Using Comparison Operators

Comparison Operators

The "comparison operators" are used to indicate how the search term relates to the chosen field in that search line. For example, if you have a search line that looks like this:

Field	Comparison Operator	Search Term
Title	Contains	parrot

You will be searching for references where the Title (the search field) contains (the comparison operator) parrot (the search term).

The comparison operators function as follows:

• Contains: Finds all references where the search field includes the search term. The search term includes both left and right truncation, so a search for "house" would find "house," "greenhouse," and "household" anywhere in the field.

Note: Only the "Contains" comparison operator is available when searching online databases. The following operators are available only for searching the EndNote library. Please note that some operators may not work together with some options selected from the Field list.

• Is: finds all references in which the entire content of the search field is exactly the same as the search term.

Note: This operator does not work in searches where you select the Any Field + PDF with Notes option from the Field list.

• Is Less Than: finds all references in which the search term is less than the contents of the search field.
• Is Less Than or Equal To: finds all references in which the search term is less than or identical to the contents of the search field.
• Is Greater Than: finds all references in which the search term is greater than the contents of the search field.
• Is Greater Than or Equal To: finds all references in which the search term is greater than or identical to the contents of the search field.

Note: For all of the Greater Than and Less Than comparisons, the comparison is either numerical or alphabetical based on the nature of the term. When the fields have both numbers and letters, numbers are considered less than letters, and empty fields are ignored.

• Field Begins With: finds all references in which the search term is found at the beginning of the selected field (also referred to as right field truncation). The search term can be a partial word, a full word, or several words, and will be compared to the initial text in the field. If you enter more than a single word, remember that punctuation and spaces are significant, so you must enter exactly what is found in the reference.

Note: This operator does not work in searches where you select the Any Field + PDF with Notes option from the Field list.

• Field Ends With: finds all references in which the search term is found at the end of the field (also referred to as left field truncation). The search term can be a partial word, a full word, or several words, and will be compared to the ending text in the field. If you enter more than a single word, remember that punctuation and spaces are significant, so you must enter exactly what is found at the end of the field.

Note: This operator does not work in searches where you select the Any Field + PDF with Notes option from the Field list.

• Word Begins With: finds all references in which the search term is found at the beginning of a word anywhere in the field (also referred to as right word truncation). Punctuation and spaces are ignored. This can help you find words that start with the same root. For example, searching for a word that begins with "land," would also find "landing" and "landfill," but not "Iceland" or "island."

Note: The Field begins with, Field ends with, and Word begins with comparisons all treat Author fields like any other field. There is no manipulation of surnames and first names; EndNote looks at the literal string of text in the field.

Examples of Comparison Operators in Searches

Field	Comparison Operator	Search Term	EndNote Finds
Year	Is greater than	2020	all references published after 2020
Year	Is less than	2020	all references published before 2020
Year	Is greater than or equal to	2015	references published during or after 2015
Title	Is less than	A	all references where titles start with a number
Author	Is less than or equal to	C	all references with authors whose last names begin with A, B, or a number; this would not match a name such as "Carter," as "Ca is greater than C
Author	Is greater than or equal to	S	all references with authors whose last names begin with S-Z
Title	Contains	bird	all references with "bird" in the title
Title	Is	bird	all references with "bird" as the exact title, "birding" or "birdlike" would not be found
Abstract	Is		all references with no abstract (empty field)
Title	Field begins with	bird	all references where titles start with "bird" including "birding," and "birdlike behavior," but not "Once a bird"
Abstract	Field ends with	bird	all references where abstracts end with "bird," which would include "a single bird," but not "two birds" or "birding"
Any field	Word begins with	house	all references where any field includes a word that begins with "house," which would include text such as "U.S. House of Representatives" and "household," but not "greenhouse"