While not necessarily “secret”, field codes are an underutilized feature found in nearly all scholarly literature databases. 

A field is a specific part of a record found within a database. A field code (also sometimes referred to as a field tag) is a word, abbreviation, or letters that are tied to a specific field within a record. Some common examples of fields are: title, author, and publication year. Every database has their own set of field codes for the various fields found in their records. Here we discuss how you can leverage these field codes to focus your literature searches.

Adding Field Codes to your Search

The default, or basic search, in most databases, is a general all field or keyword search. While this may be fine for simple searches, as searches become more complex, sometimes there needs to be more options available. That is where field codes come in.

The Advanced Search features found in most databases is where you can manipulate your search strategies to include field codes. In some cases available or common field codes are listed on this page. Depending on the database, you may or may not be able to add multiple field codes to a single search. If you are limited to a single field code, use the Boolean Operator OR to combine multiple search strings. 

Commonly Used Field Codes in Select Databases

Continue reading →