Searching with Terms and Connectors | Westlaw® Quick Reference

The Terms and Connectors search method allows you to enter a query that consists of key terms from

your issue and connectors specifying the relationship between those terms. For example, you can

specify that your terms appear in the same sentence (/s) or the same paragraphs (/p). Terms and

Connectors searching is available in all Westlaw databases.

Use the Terms and Connectors search method when you

• are searching for particular terms

• want to retrieve all available documents containing your search terms

• want to search a database for which Natural Language searching is not available

Complete these steps to search for documents using Terms and Connectors:

1. Formulate your query by choosing search terms significant to your issue and deciding which

connectors to place between your terms. Consider using alternative terms such as synonyms and

antonyms. To retrieve variations of terms, use the root expander (!) and the universal character (*).

To retrieve a phrase, place quotation marks (“ ”) around the phrase.

2. Access a database or multiple databases. The Search page is displayed.

3. At the Search page, click the Terms and Connectors tab if it is not already selected.

4. Type your query in the Search text box and click Search Westlaw.

Choosing Search Terms

Choose terms significant to your issue. Suppose, for example, that your issue concerns whether a

judge has the authority to reduce a sentence. The terms judge, authority, reduce, and sentence are key

parts of the issue, so these terms (along with variations and alternatives) should be included in your

query, as in the following sample query:

judge court /s discret! authori! /s reduc! lessen! /s sentence judgment

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Searching with Terms and Connectors

Retrieving Documents on Westlaw

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Figure 1. The Terms and Connectors tab on the Search page

PHRASES

To search for a phrase, place the phrase in quotation marks. Westlaw will retrieve documents that

contain the search terms in the same order as they appear in the quotation marks. For example, to use

the phrase res ipsa loquitur in a search, type “res ipsa loquitur”.

Phrase searching is most effectively used with the Terms and Connectors search method when the

phrase is not likely to appear in alternative ways. For example, you might not want to use the phrase

“blood alcohol level” in your query because some documents could express that idea as the level of

alcohol in the defendant’s blood.

COMMON TERMS

Some terms, such as be or with, are too common to be searched as single terms on Westlaw. If you

enter such a term, Westlaw will display the term and the message Your request contains term(s) too

common to be searched. If you receive this message, edit your query and leave out the common terms.

Common terms can be included in your query when they appear as either the first or last term in a

phrase or term of art that is either hyphenated or enclosed in quotation marks. For example, if you

type at-will, Westlaw will process your request and retrieve documents that include this phrase.

If a common term is embedded within a phrase or hyphenated term, the common term will serve as a

placeholder only and will not be searched. Therefore, the phrase “judgment with prejudice” will

retrieve documents in which phrases such as judgment without prejudice and judgment would prejudice

appear.

ALTERNATIVE TERMS

After selecting the main terms for your query, consider adding alternative terms. You should consider

both synonyms and antonyms as alternative terms. For example, if you are searching for attorney, you

might also want to search for counsel and lawyer. If you are searching for good faith, you might also

want to search for bad faith or, if you are searching for admissible, you might also include inadmissible.

You can also use the Westlaw thesaurus to add alternative terms to your Terms and Connectors query.

After you type your query in the Search text box, click Thesaurus.

VARIATIONS OF WORD FORMS

When choosing search terms, consider the various forms they might take. When you search for the

term liable, for example, you may also want to search for liability. If you do not search for all variations,

you may miss relevant documents.

While Westlaw retrieves many word forms automatically, you can also retrieve other word forms by

using special symbols, as shown in the table below.

PLURALS

If you enter the singular form of a term, Westlaw automatically retrieves the plural form as well; this is

true for all regular and most irregular plurals. If you enter the plural form, only the plural is retrieved.

For example, if you type warrant, you retrieve warrant and warrants; if you type woman, you retrieve

woman and women; and if you type summons, you retrieve summons but not summon.

2 Searching with Terms and Connectors

To search for Type Westlaw retrieves documents that contain

Compound words such as whistle-blower whistle-blower whistleblower, whistle-blower, whistle blower

Abbreviations such as FMLA f.m.l.a. F.M.LA., F. M. L. A., FMLA, F M L A

Words with multiple endings such as object object! object, objected, objection, objecting

Words with variable characters such as jur** jury, juror (but not jurisdiction)

jury and withdraw withdr*w withdraw, withdrew

Choosing Connectors

In addition to choosing terms for your query, you must also choose connectors to specify the

relationships between your search terms. Click a connector in the Add Connectors or Expanders list at

the bottom of a database Search page to add the connectors to your query, or click Help next to Add

Connectors or Expanders to view a list of connectors and brief explanations of their function in a

search.

AND CONNECTOR

Use the AND connector (&) to retrieve documents containing two or more search terms anywhere in

the document. For example, the query seat-belt & mitigat! requires that all forms of the compound

term seat-belt and any word with the root mitigat appear in the document. Keep in mind that when

you use the AND connector, the terms may appear on different pages. For this reason, you will often

find it desirable to use more restrictive connectors.

OR CONNECTOR

Use the OR connector, represented by a space, to search for alternative terms. For example, the query

attorney lawyer counsel retrieves any document containing at least one of these terms.

SAME PARAGRAPH CONNECTORS (/P, +P)

The same paragraph connectors require search terms to appear in the same paragraph in a

document. If you are not sure which connector to use, try /p first. For example, the query

pit-bull bull-terrier /p attack! retrieves documents in which forms of the terms pit-bull or bull-terrier

appear in the same paragraph with any word with the root attack. You can use the +p connector to

specify that the first term precede the second term within the same paragraph.

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Searching with Terms and Connectors 3

Connector Type Westlaw retrieves documents that contain Example

AND & both search terms narcotics & warrant

OR a space either search term or both terms car automobile

Grammatical /p search terms in the same paragraph hearsay /p utterance

Connectors /s search terms in the same sentence design /s defect

+s the first term preceding the second in the same sentence attorney +s fee

Numerical /n search terms within n terms of each other personal /3 jurisdiction

Connectors (where n is a number from 1 to 255)

+n the first term preceding the second by n terms robert +2 stevenson

(where n is a number from 1 to 255)

Phrase “ ” search terms appearing in the same order as in the “attractive nuisance”

quotation marks

Connector Type To exclude documents that contain Example

BUT NOT % the terms following the percent symbol r.i.c.o. % “puerto rico”

SAME SENTENCE CONNECTORS (/S, +S)

The same sentence connectors require search terms to appear in the same sentence in a document.

For example, the query design! /s defect! retrieves documents in which any words with the roots

design and defect appear in the same sentence. Documents containing phrases such as the following

would be retrieved:

• liability for a defectively designed product

• resulting from alleged design and manufacturing defects

• the defendant negligently designed the defective safety latch

You can use the +s connector to specify that the first term precede the second term within the same

sentence.

NUMERICAL CONNECTORS

Numerical connectors require search terms to appear within a specified number of terms of

each other. A numerical connector can be any number from 1 to 255. For example, the query

attorney /5 fee retrieves documents in which attorney appears within five terms or fewer of fee,

as in the phrase caused the bank to incur attorney and trustee fees and expenses.

To specify term order with numerical connectors, use the +n connector (where n is a number); the

+n connector requires that the first term precede the second term by no more than the specified

number of terms. For example, the query hillary +3 clinton retrieves documents in which hillary

precedes clinton by three terms or fewer, as in a reference to Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The +n connector is especially useful when you are restricting your search to the citation field or

searching for documents referencing a particular citation. For example, the query 20 +5 1080

retrieves documents in which 20 precedes 1080 by five terms or fewer, as in a reference to

20 U.S.C.A. § 1080.

BUT NOT CONNECTOR (%)

You can exclude documents that contain certain terms by using the BUT NOT connector (%). Westlaw

excludes everything that follows the BUT NOT connector in your search. For example, to retrieve cases

mentioning multiple chemical sensitivity while excluding cases with headnotes classified under West

digest topic 413 (Workers’ Compensation), you could use this query:

“multiple chemical sensitivity” % to(413)

Using Field Restrictions

Almost all documents on Westlaw are composed of several parts called fields. Rather than searching

entire documents, you can use field restrictions to search for terms in specific parts of a document. The

format for typing a field-restricted search is the same for all fields: type the field abbreviation

immediately followed by key terms enclosed in parentheses. For example, in a case law database you

can retrieve cases dealing with retaliation against whistle-blowers by restricting your search to the

synopsis (sy) and digest (di) fields and typing sy,di(retaliat! /p whistle-blow!). You can also add a field

restriction to your query by selecting a field from the Fields drop-down list at a database Search page.

The abbreviation for this field will be added to the Search text box. Type the terms you want included

in the field restriction in the parentheses following the abbreviation. Connect the field restriction to the

rest of the query with the AND connector.

The trademarks used herein are the trademarks of their respective

owners. West trademarks are owned by West Publishing Corporation.

Published 5/09. Material #40878857. Replaces Material #40790683.

Figure 2. Fields drop-down

list on the Search page