Author name searching can be tricky in SciFinder as each journal uses different conventions for representing names when publishing. For example, my name, Megan Powell, could be represented as Powell, Megan, Powell, M., or Powell, M.N. If you don't know all of the ways that an author's name might be represented...that's okay, SciFinder will help you out with this! First you'll want to make sure that you are searching the following format:
Last Name, First Name Middle Name
Once you've landed on the results page, you can take a look at the ALL of the authors that are populated from your search using the Author/Inventor filter. You can select the conventions that you think might apply to your author, but know that people can share names!
Last updated 4/30/2025
Only the Organization of the first author is indexed in CAplus. This is important to note. MEDLINE documents index all of the Organizations of the authors. So if you're doing an Organization search for an author who may not be first author of an article, keep this in mind!
Last updated 4/30/2025
When using the Patent Identifier -- Patent Number advanced search field, the syntax of the Patent Number can be interpreted in many different ways. For example, the patent WO2003039460 could be searched as the following:
WO2003039460
WO 2003039460
WO2003039460A2
WO2003039460 A2
WO 2003039460A2
WO 2003039460 A2
The main search bar can be a bit finicky with the syntax of a patent number compared to this advanced search field.
Last updated 4/30/2025
I would recommend NOT using Boolean operators within a single Advanced Search field. Instead, add another line and put the appropriate Boolean operator in between like so:
The Title field has an implied AND between each keyword so each word you type in the Title Advanced Field must appear in the Title. The other Advanced Fields can be a little wonky if using Boolean so I'd always recommend not doing so within a single search bar.
(AI version) You can still do an Advanced Search with specific fields by selecting the Advanced Search featured search:
Last updated 9/5/2025
