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Search Operators: Bracketed Searches

How to use Boolean operators and more to combine terms in your database and Google searches.

Brackets in Searches

The same way we use brackets in math, we can use them in our searches: to clarify the order of operations. Brackets take precedent over Boolean operators.

Examples of Brackets in Searches

(cats OR dogs OR pets) AND intelligence

  • This will search for everything in the brackets, then outside the bracket.
  • This will return results that contain
    • cat and dog and pet and intelligence
    • cat and dog and intelligence
    • cat and pet and intelligence
    • dog and pet and intelligence
    • cat and intelligence
    • dog and intelligence
    • pet and intelligence

(anxiety OR depression) AND (test OR measure)

  • This will everything in the brackets, then tie it together
  • This will return results containing
    • anxiety and depression and test and measure
    • anxiety and test and measure
    • anxiety and test
    • anxiety and measure
    • depression and test
    • depression and measure