Truncation, also known as derivation, is a powerful search technique that allows you to broaden your search to include multiple word endings and spellings. To use truncation, you need to enter the root of a word and add a truncation symbol at the end. This will return results that include any endings of that root word. To truncate a search term, you need to do a keyword search in a database, but remove the end of the word and add an asterisk (*) to the end of the word. The database will then retrieve all results that include words that begin with the letters you entered.
Truncation is an effective way to broaden your search and include multiple word endings and spellings. Some databases allow certain symbols to be used to search for different forms of a word (such as plurals) or different spellings. It is important to consult the help screens for a particular database to determine which symbols should be used. In PubMed, the asterisk (*) represents any group of characters, even no characters. It should be placed at the end of the root of your term (minimum of four characters).
It is important to be aware that placing the truncation symbol in a word too early can be counterproductive. For example, if you want to search for both “humor” and “humour” (American spelling), you should consider using the search term “smoke*”.Truncation is a search method that uses symbols instead of letters or words to help you broaden your search. Different databases use different truncation symbols, so it is important to check the information in the database “Help” or “Search Tips” for details on which symbol to use. Truncation is a search technique used in databases in which the ending of a word is replaced by a symbol.
This allows you to simultaneously search for different forms of a word and will increase the number of search results found. Using truncation will help you complete your search faster, as you won't have to manually type and search every variation of the word. Truncation is very useful when you know that one of your search terms has multiple endings, but all variations represent basically the same idea. Truncation is a symbol added to the end of the root of a word to tell the database to search for all forms of a word.
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