Answered By: Research Librarians
Last Updated: May 19, 2021     Views: 13093

Nesting refers to the use of parentheses to organize a search statement that uses more than one kind of connector or operator (AND, OR, NOT). Nest search terms whenever there's only one text entry box.

Sample nested search: "critical thinking" AND ("higher education" OR college students)

Shows sample nested search

 

Same search when multiple text entry boxes are provided:

Shows same search using more than one text entry box and no parentheses

 

When you have more than one text entry box, put synonyms or alternative terms for the same concept connected by OR into the same box to be sure that the database combines your terms correctly.

In the examples above, records that contain the exact phrase critical thinking will be identified, and then results will be narrowed to those that also contain the exact phrase higher education or the words college students.