| General Search | Summary of All Results | Query Expressions |
| Advanced Search | Session Preferences | - Multiple Search Terms |
| Interactive Map | Spelling Suggestions | - Boolean Operators |
| Selecting, Downloading Citations, Printing & Emailing Results | Side Bars | - Exact Phrases |
| - Downloading Citations | - Clusters | - Parentheses |
| - Printing | - Wikipedia | - Wildcards |
| - Emailing | - EurekAlert! | |
| Sorting, Limiting & Refining | - Alerts | |
| - Sorting | - Creating an Alerts Account | |
| - Limiting | - Creating an Alert | |
| - Refining | - Creating Alerts from Search Results | |
General Search
To perform a search from the WorldWideScience home page, type a search term and click the Search button. A list of results will display. These results are ranked by relevance, indicated by the stars 
next to the document title.
- WorldWideScience continues to search sources even after a list of results displays. Progress of this search is indicated by a load bar located at the top-right of the page.
- The “Additional Results Available” window appears after all sources have been searched.
- The additional results can be included by clicking the Include these results button. Clicking the Do not include these results button will return you to your initial search results. Placing a check in the box beside the Don’t show this again option will prevent this window from appearing after any additional searches.
- To include additional results after the Do not include these results button has been clicked, click Add at the top of the page next to the loading bar.
Advanced Search
Precise search results can be obtained by utilizing WorldWideScience’s advanced search features.
Click Advanced Search from the list of links at the top of the WorldWideScience website or from the link on the search page.
Search results can be refined by entering a search term for the full record, the title, or author. Results can also be matched by field, or by specifying a date range or particular database.
- The Full Record field searches the bibliographic record and full text of the document for a specified search term.
- The Title field searches for document titles with the specified search term.
- The Author field searches for a specified author of a document. Using the last name of a single author will yield the best results.
- The Match field finds results with terms occurring in all fields for a specified search term, or any of the fields for a specified search term.
- Selecting a Date Range will limit results to documents published between two specified years.
- WorldWideScience searches all available databases by default. To limit results to a single or multiple databases, remove the check from the Select All option and place a check next to the desired database.
Interactive Map
The interactive map displays countries, depicted in dark purple, contributing to WorldWideScience.
- Click on a country to view its name and participant(s) in the side menu.
- Click on a link from the side menu to visit a participant’s website (opens in a new window).
Selecting, Downloading Citations, Printing & Emailing Results
Once a search has been performed and a list of results returned, desired articles can be selected and saved for later use, emailed, and printed.
- Click on the empty box next to a desired article to add it to the My Selections list found just above the search results.
Note: The number next to the My Selections link will increase as more articles are added.
- Click on My Selections to view the list of selected articles. Articles can be removed from this list by unchecking them.
- Click the Back to Result List button to return to the search results.
Note: Selected articles are available until they are unchecked or until the browser is closed.
Downloading Citations
Citations of selected articles can be viewed and downloaded. This format is compatible with most reference management software packages.
- Click Citations at the top of the My Selections window to view the citation or to save it on your computer.
- Click Ok to view or save.
Printing
- A list of selected articles can be printed by clicking Print Results at the top of the My Selections window.
- Click Ok to print.
Emailing
A list of selected articles can be emailed by clicking Email Results above the search results.
- Enter an email address, name, and optional message in the spaces provided.
- Click the Send these results button at the bottom of the window to email results.
- An email from results@worldwidescience.org will be delivered to the specified email address.
Sorting, Limiting & Refining
Search results can be sorted by rank, date, title, or author. Results can also be limited to a desired source.
Sorting
- Click on the arrow next to the Sort by option to display a drop-down menu.
- Select the desired sorting option.
- The Rank option sorts results by relevance (this is the default option).
- The Date option sorts results by the most recent publication date.
- The Title option sorts results alphabetically by title.
- The Author option sorts results alphabetically by author.
- Results will be sorted by the selected option.
Limiting
- Click on the arrow next to the Limit to option to display a drop-down menu.
- Scroll through the list of sources and select the desired option.
- Results from the specified source only will be displayed.
Refining
Results can be refined to include an additional search term. WorldWideScience searches previously-returned results for the additional search term, and new results are displayed.
- Enter a new search term into the space beside Refine Search.
- Click Refine Search.
Summary of All Results
WorldWideScience provides a summary of results that outlines the responsiveness of each separate source.
- The
indicates the search for that source completed successfully.
- A
indicates the source was unresponsive.
- The number in the Results column indicates the number of results returned for WorldWideScience.
- The number in the Totals column indicates how many additional results are available from that source.
- Due to the number of sources that WorldWideScience searches, a maximum of 100 results per source is returned. Additional results from a particular source can be obtained by searching the source directly.
Session Preferences
WorldWideScience allows for user-control over certain search options.
- Click Session Preferences from the list of links located above the search results.
- The Session Preferences window appears.
- The Results per page option allows users to decide how many results appear on each page, from 10 to 250. Click the arrow to display a drop-down menu and select the desired number of results to display.
- Users can also choose whether or not the More Results Available window appears after every search by selecting one of the two options.
- Click Save Preferences to apply new settings and return to the search results.
Spelling Suggestions
WorldWideScience may suggest alternate search terms when the original term has multiple spellings or has been misspelled.
- Spelling suggestions, if available, are located in the search menu above the search results.
- Click on the suggested term following the words “Did you mean” to display new results with the suggested search term.
Side Bars
WorldWideScience provides both informative side bars and cluster options for a set of search results.
Clusters
Clusters allow results to be refined by topic or date.
- Clusters are located to the left of the search results.
- Topics and dates can be opened and collapsed by clicking on the (+) or (-), respectively.
- Sometimes additional topics and dates are available than what first appear. To see all topics or dates, click More in the clusters menu.
- Click on a topic or date to display only those articles under a particular topic or published by a certain date.
- Click All Results to view articles from all topics and dates.
- The cluster labeled “Full Text Available” indicates results that provide access to the full text documents.
Wikipedia
For many search terms, a Wikipedia article displays to the right of the search results. This article provides a quick, simple definition of the search term. Click the title to view the entire Wikipedia article.
EurekAlert!
The EurekAlert! menu appears beneath the Wikipedia article to the right of the search results. EurekAlert! displays news sources related to the search term. Click on a news title to read the entire article. Read more about EurekaAlert!.
Alerts
Alerts make recurring searches easier by automating the search and sending you the results on a regular basis. To receive alerts on topic(s) of interest, create a free Alerts account, specify your alert parameters, and check your email.
Creating an Alerts Account
- After a list of results is returned, click Alerts at the top of the page.
- Click Register at the login page.
- Supply your user name, email address, email preference and format, and supply and confirm your password.
- Click the Create Account button.
- You will receive an email from results@worldwidescience.org requesting account confirmation. Click on the link provided to activate your account.
Note: You cannot begin using alerts until your account has been activated.
Creating an Alert
- Click the Create button on the top left panel of the Alert home page.
- Alert Name: Select a memorable name for your alert.
- Description: Clarify your alert for your future reference.
- Alert Email Format: You can choose either HTML or TEXT email format.
- Alert Frequency: Choose how often to receive your Alert results.
- Enter your search terms into any or all of the available fields.
- Select All Sources or the individual sources you want to search.
- Save Alert.
Creating Alerts from Search Results
- Click the Create an alert from this search link on the search results page.
- The information entered into the advanced search page will automatically populate the fields on the alert creation page.
- Alert parameters can be edited.
- If you have not created an Alerts account, WorldWideScience will remember your search information while you create and verify your new account.
Query Expressions
In addition to simple search terms, WorldWideScience can conduct searches using multiple search terms, Boolean operators, exact phrases, parentheses, and wildcards.
Note: Searches are not case-sensitive. A search for SCIENCE, Science, or science will return the same results.
Multiple Search Terms
Multiple terms can be searched, using the Boolean AND by default.
Example: A search for science technology will return results on both science and technology.
Boolean Operators
WorldWideScience recognizes the operators AND, OR, and NOT
- Example: A search for science AND technology will return results on both science and technology.
- Example: A search for science OR technology will return results on either science or technology.
- Example: A search for science NOT technology will return results on science but not technology.
Exact Phrases
Phrases contained in double quotations (“ ”) will be searched as an exact phrase.
Example: A search for “nuclear energy” will return only those results where energy immediately follows the term nuclear.
Parentheses
Using parentheses allows control over the order in which Boolean expressions are evaluated.
Example: A search for nuclear ((energy consumption) OR waste) will return results for either nuclear energy consumption or nuclear waste.
Example: A search for ((black holes) or (dark matter)) AND gravitation will search for either black and holes and gravitation or dark and matter and gravitation.
Wildcards
Wildcards (* and ?) allow a search term to act as a “root” for words with different forms.
Example: A search for part* will return results that include the terms part, particle, participate, etc.
Example: A search for part? will return results with only one additional character: parts, party, etc.
