Truncation

Truncation simply means to shorten. This is a technique that expands your search by including multiple endings of your chosen free search keyword. To use truncation, you enter the stem of your chosen keyword and end it with the truncation symbol * (asterisk). Truncation is thus used ONLY with free search keywords, not with controlled search keywords.

Example: genetic* finds genetic, genetics, or genetically

Note: Use truncation cautiously. Depending on where you truncate the word stem, truncation can lead to many irrelevant variants of the word you use as a stem. Especially if the stem is short or very common!

In Ovid databases (Ovid Medline, Ovid Embase, and Ovid PsycINFO) you can also regulate the number of characters you get after the truncation symbol.

Example: Therap*n. Here, n will give you the maximum number of letters/characters after the truncation mark. Therap*3 will give you, for example, therapies, but not therapeutic.