How Do I Create a Search?

The information in this article applies to the following LexisNexis^® products and services: Lexis+^®, Lexis^®, Practical Guidance

Running your search is easy and intuitive. Enter your search terms in the search box and search through all available content or use filters from the search box or Explore to search in certain sources, jurisdictions, categories, or practice areas.

You can use plain language searches, similar to using internet search engines, or Boolean searches. After you click Search, the service determines to run the search as natural language or terms & connectors depending on the terms you entered.

Take the following steps to create a search:

1. Enter you terms in the search box, using plain language (natural language) or Boolean connectors (terms & connectors). You can enter up to 5,000 characters.
   Note: As you enter terms when searching research materials, you will see suggested searches, documents, sources, and questions appear under the search box. For more information on this functionality, see Search Suggestion Groups.
2. (Optional) Select 1 or more of the following options:
   • (Optional) Select the content Category that displays first. Unless you have applied a filter, your search runs in all available content Categories.
   • (Optional) Select jurisdiction filters.
   • (Optional) Click View Favorites to select saved filter sets.
3. Click the Search button.

Natural language: You can use plain language to create a natural language search. You can enter your search using the terms or questions you use when discussing your topic or you can use just the most important keywords or phrases. For example, you could enter either of the following search if you are researching the valuation of a leveraged buyout:

• How is the valuation determined for a leveraged buyout?
• leveraged buyout valuation

For more information on natural language searches, see Using Natural Language.

Terms & connectors: If you want to define the relationship between your search terms you can use a terms & connectors search. Connectors you can use include and, or, and not, and proximity connectors such as /n. For example, you could enter the following search if you are researching violations of RICO in the corn, wheat, and soy industries: You can also use commands such as atleast to further restrict your search. For more information on this functionality, see Using Terms & Connectors and Using Search Commands.

For additional information, the following articles provide additional details:

• How Do I Search and Navigate in Practical Guidance?
• How Do I Apply Filters to My Search?
• How Do I Find and Search in a Specific Source?
• How Do I Retrieve Documents by Cite?
• How Do I Search for Variations of Words?
• How Do I Search in Specific Segments?
• Using Symbols and Special Characters in Your Search
• Using Advanced Search Forms