What are limiters?
Most databases will allow you to limit your search results according to certain criteria. Common options include:
- Publication date (or date range)
- Publication type (e.g., book, newspaper, journal article)
- Peer review status (limits results to peer-reviewed, scholarly journal articles)
You will often find these options below the main "Advanced search" fields, or on the side of your results page.
Limiters vary between databases. If you're not sure whether a particular option is available in a specific database, check the database's HELP page.
What is field-specific searching?
Most databases allow you to limit your search to a particular field, such as the item tite, author, subject, or abstract. You will find typically find these options in a drop-down menu next to the search field(s).
You can use field-specific searching to refine your search results according to specific criteria.