How to use Search Assist
Other functionalities
Similar queries outside of Search Assist
More resources
Search Assist, which can be found within the Search Assistance tab beneath the search bar, helps users perform complex queries without having to know the search fields or syntax needed to achieve the desired results.
To create a query within the tool using Search Assist, first select the dataset of interest on the landing page. Once you have done this, click on the Search Assist button under the search bar.
How to use Search Assist
Step 1.
Select the field(s) you wish to search within. You can select from the dropdown menu and/or start typing in a field name you would like to query, such as title or abstract. If the field you are looking for doesn’t appear, you can use the user guide to find the names of fields for the different datasets: Literature, Grant Records, Clinical Trials. For some fields you will be provided with a list of similar fields that you may also want to search. Select any that apply.
Step 2.
Add search terms/phrases (one at a time). Once you enter a term, select Include or hit enter on your keyboard and that term will appear in the Include column. You can also click Exclude if that is what you wish to accomplish with the results. Additionally, you can always click on the green "chip"/term now in the Include category, and select Swap to move it to Exclude.
If you added multiple terms, you will need to choose how you want them to interact. By default, Any Values is selected, which indicates an OR syntax, therefore, if you type in two (or more) terms, iSearch will interpret it as "testing OR BRCA2", which may not be the results you desire. You may need to select All values to change this syntax to AND, reading as "testing AND BRCA2". This will find your two terms anywhere in the fields(s) you selected. Alternatively, you can type in the phrase "BRCA2 testing", which will search for these terms as a phrase side by side, eliminating the potential issue with the two terms not being directly related, however, not everyone may input these terms in that exact sequence so you need to think about which search criteria will give you the most accurate results.
The last option is At least 2 values, which is helpful when you input a list of keywords/terms/phrases and want results to show if at least 2 of those entries can be found anywhere in the fields selected. This captures a wider net than performing a search on an exact phrase or even a few exact phrases since it can be any combination of two or more terms from your list.
Make sure to hit Save and Continue for each part of the query you are building, i.e. if you want to add another component to your search. Your Search Assist selections will now appear as a "chip" in the search box where they can be modified. Notice that some fields have a list of options that will appear, such as the Condition. Select which available options from that field you wish to use from the list.
When you have completed your query/queries, select Save and Search to execute the search. Note: If you have added multiple "chips" using Search Assist, you will need to decide if you want these queries read as AND or OR. This command is indicated by the boolean operator/buttons on the left side of the search bar:
- Find at least two of these terms in the abstracts of the grant records but remove those with surgery in the abstract AND they must have "breast cancer" as the Condition. This will find records that must overlap/contain both criteria. (This is always selected by default.)
- Find at least two of these terms in the abstracts of the grant records but remove those with surgery in the abstract OR they must have "breast cancer" as the Condition. This will find records that may or may not overlap based on your criteria
https://analytics.opa-analytics.od.nih.gov/results/publicgrants?ID=0fccb3ac-48a9-47fc-8ac8-65c54ea575c6 Results above as of 9/19/2025
Other functionalities
Another functionality of Search Assist is the ability to paste or upload a list of search terms into iSearch; Note: Terms can be pasted into the search bar as well, but to upload terms, you must go to Search Assist. Once you have selected the field(s) to search, you can enter search terms one by one or select the Paste terms or upload link, which allows you to select between the two options:
Paste Terms provides a box in which you can paste a list of terms separated by a space or with each term on a new line. If you choose the former, you need to insert quotes around search terms that contain multiple words. If each term is on a new line, there is a check box that you can use to tell the tool to treat each line as a new term without needing to insert quotes.
Upload Terms allows you to upload a CSV or Excel file with one column of terms without a header to be used as your search query. The tool will automatically treat each cell in the list as a new term so there is no need to quote phrases. See more about importing/uploading terms.
Similar queries outside of Search Assist
Alternatively, you can input terms yourself into the search bar (outside of Search Assist) and create more specific rules related to which terms are required, and more. Learn more about how this works in the minimum match syntax article. Although you can only input exact terms/phrases into Search Assist, it may be beneficial to use a more flexible query, such as a proximity search, for some terms that will always be found near each other, but not necessarily always in the exact order of a phrase (e.g. "breast cancer" and "cancer of the breast"). These complex queries must be typed into the search bar (not in Search Assist). This includes wildcard searches, which also would capture a wider net of results versus an exact term (e.g., transplant* would return any variation of this term so long as it began with transplant, eliminating the need to add in multiple variations of the term manually). Learn more about search syntax.
More resources
Use the Search Strategies tutorial or Comparing Searches tutorial to help you navigate the best way(s) to perform your search.