You may also limit your search to a journal subset, such as Abridged Index Medicus, or Nursing, or Dental. Many databases allow truncation to retrieve variant spellings of a textword or name. The truncation symbol depends on the user interface. Be sure to use as much of the word as you are sure of. Internal truncation symbols can allow for one extra or one different letter within a word.
Many databases allow textwords to be searched together as phrases with an adjacency command.
This is useful for phrases which have come into vogue but have not yet been accepted as part of the indexers controlled vocabulary. Database searching is particularly useful when you want to combine two or more subject concepts in your search. NOT should be used with caution, but can be useful. You will exclude articles about gout, but will possibly miss a good article that reviews all the therapeutic uses of allopurinol, including gout. For the best search results, use the best search terms.