Proximity Operators

Use proximity operators to specify that two terms must be within a certain distance of each other in the text field being searched. You can use proximity operators in the Quick, Basic, and Advanced search forms.

Scopus uses the following two proximity operators:

PRE/n "precedes by". Where the first term in the query must precede the second by a specified number of terms (n).
W/n "within". Where the terms in the query must be within a specified number of terms (n). Either word may appear first.

For Example

pain W/15 morphine would find articles in which "pain" and "morphine" are no more than 15 terms apart.
behavioural PRE/3 disturbances would find articles in which "behavioural" precedes "disturbances" by three or fewer words.

Values for "n"

Replace "n" with the maximum number of terms that can be between the two terms. It can be a number from 0 to 255.

Use the following guidelines when choosing a number for "n":

To find terms in the same phrase, use 3, 4, or 5.
To find terms in the same sentence, use 15.
To find terms in the same paragraph, use 50.
To find adjacent terms, use 0. For example, heart PRE/0 attack will return the same Scopus results as "heart attack".

Tip Use PRE/0 if you want to include wildcards when searching for a phrase.

Using Proximity Operators

You can use the wildcards, * and ?, with proximity operators.

For Example

TITLE-ABS-KEY(ship* PRE/0 channel)

Tip

Wildcards are treated as punctuation when you search for a phrase using double quotes (" "). To search for a phrase using a wildcard, use PRE/0.

For Example

TITLE-ABS-KEY("behavioural disorder" OR "behavioral disorder" OR "behaviour disorder" OR "behaviour disorder" OR "behaviorism disorder") can be replaced by TITLE-ABS-KEY(behav* PRE/0 disorder).

Proximity operators can only be used with terms or phrases and not with expressions that contain the operators AND, OR, or AND NOT.

For Example

TITLE-ABS-KEY(bay PRE/6(ship* OR channel OR fish)) - invalid

Tip

Enclose proximity expressions in parentheses to avoid confusion.

For Example

TITLE-ABS-KEY((bay PRE/6 ship* ) OR channel OR fish) – valid

TITLE-ABS-KEY(bay PRE/6 ship* OR channel OR fish) - invalid because OR is read first.

You can use more than one proximity operator in sequence to connect several terms:

For Example TITLE-ABS-KEY(bay PRE/6 ship* PRE/6 channel) – valid

Do not mix operator types or include different values for "n" within the same expression:

For Example TITLE-ABS-KEY(bay PRE/6 ship* PRE/0 channel) – invalid
TITLE-ABS-KEY(bay W/6 ship* PRE/6 channel) – invalid
You can include multiple, different operators and different values for "n" in the same search, but not within the same expression:

For Example TITLE-ABS-KEY((b?y W/6 ship*) AND (ship* PRE/0 channel) AND NOT (channel W/0 isl*)) - valid