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Scopus search: TITLE-ABS-KEY

I realized something strange when searching on Scopus' database.

If I query some words in the field "TITLE-ABS-KEY", I do not get the same results as if I query each field individually, separated by "OR"s.

For example, the query:

TITLE-ABS-KEY ( flood mitigation dam river OR stream )

finds 163 papers.

Whereas the query:

TITLE ( flood mitigation dam river OR stream )
OR ABS ( flood mitigation dam river OR stream )
OR KEY ( flood mitigation dam river OR stream )

finds only 140 papers.

Does anyone know if this is to be expected, and if so, what is the difference between both queries?

Solution

  • I eventually got a clarification from Elsevier Customer Service, and they provided the following explanation:

    "TITLE-ABS-KEY is going to find all results for any or all of those three criteria with the keywords. TITLE OR ABS OR KEY is going to give only results where three criteria don't overlap. So that would give less results."