Using ERIC Search

Search Tips

General Search Tips

Searching is not case sensitive.

Example:
Search ERIC or eric or Eric

ERIC Search looks for exact matches to the term you enter.

Example:
green searches for and retrieves only those records containing the word green, rather than all words containing word stem green (e.g., Greene, greening, greens, greenway, etc.)

Stemming is disabled; therefore exact matching of a word or an acronym happens without the need for quotes. For those searchers that need stemming-like functionality, the asterisk (*) wildcard can be used – this is sometimes referred to as truncation. To use the wildcard feature, you must specify a minimum of three letters.

Example:
laugh* retrieves laugh, laughs, laughter, etc.

Search for a phrase by placing the term in quotes.

Example:
"colonial history" narrows a search to only those records containing the phrase, rather than searching for each word

Construct a simple Boolean search using AND, OR, or NOT in a single entry box. If multiple words are entered without a Boolean operator, the default is AND.

Example:
tests exams searches for tests AND exams (not tests OR exams)

Field-specific Search Tips

Examples:
"Smith, John" retrieves all materials authored by persons named John Smith, including John Charles Smith, John P. Smith.
"Smith, C. John" retrieves only those materials authored by C. John Smith.

Note: Entering a Last name only will retrieve records with the name in any part of the author field. Searching names that can be either a first or last name may produce a larger set of results. For example, Charles locates all records that include Charles as a last name or first name. You may target your search and reduce the number of results by combining the author search with another field, such as Descriptor or Keyword.

Descriptors used in a search, rather than keywords, can provide more complete results.

Example:
Searching the keywords parent child literacy retrieves only those records containing those exact words, regardless of sequence or proximity in the record. However, the search of the Descriptor Family Literacy locates records for materials that discuss the issue, whether or not the records contain the specific keywords. For more information on locating and using Descriptors, see:Quick Tips for Searching ERIC – Using Descriptors

ERIC # must include any preceding zeroes. Older print references to ERIC records may include spacing, which must be excluded from the search.

Example:
ED023456, not ED23456 or ED 023 456

ISBN must include the prefix, any leading zeroes, and all punctuation.

Example:
ISBN-0-8018-6125-X or ISBN-978-0-325-01236-0

ISSN must include the prefix, any leading zeroes, and all punctuation.

Example:
ISSN-1538-6619 or ISSN-0190-2946