Methodology Oriented Locaters for Evidence Searching (MOLES) are a collection of words that function as search filters in your database searching. Use MOLES to help filter your search results to experimental or quasi-experimental evidence.
Important note: MOLES search string formats vary from one database to another. You can copy and paste the MOLES words for the key databases from the text below.
Copy and paste the search string below into ProQuest searches:
(RCT OR (trial* NEAR/3 (control* OR clinical)) OR (random* NEAR/3 (allocat* OR assign*)) OR ((treat* OR comparison OR intervention OR control) NEAR/2 group*) OR (control* NEAR/2 (condition* OR clinic* OR intervention* OR treat*)) OR (waitlist* OR wait* PRE/0 list*) OR (quasiexperiment* OR quasi PRE/1 experiment*) OR placebo)
Copy and paste the search string below into EBSCO searches:
(RCT OR (trial* N3 (control* OR clinical)) OR (random* N3 (allocat* OR assign*)) OR ((treat* OR comparison OR intervention OR control) N2 group*) OR (control* N2 (condition* OR clinic* OR intervention* OR treat*)) OR (waitlist* OR (wait* W0 list*)) OR (quasiexperiment* OR (quasi W0 experiment*)) OR placebo)
Copy and paste the search string below into MEDLINE searches:
RCT or randomi* or control* trial* or control* clinical or clinical trial* or random* assign* or random* allocat* or control* group* or comparison group* or treat* group* or wait* list* or control* condition* or quasi-experiment* or quasiexperiment* or (control* adj3 intervention) or (control* adj3 treat*) or placebo
PubMed does not require MOLES, as it has its own search filter called PubMed Clinical Queries:
These MOLES adapted from:
Gibbs, L. (2003). Evidence-based practice for the helping professions, Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Thomson Learning.