Stop words are frequently occurring, insignificant words that appear in a database record, article or web page.
Common stop words include:
a
an
the
in
of
on
are
be
if
into
which
Why should you care about stop words?
Most databases ignore common words from your search statement. If included, the database returns far too many results.
Many databases recognize common stop words when they are part of the controlled vocabulary of subject headings and descriptors. Example: Board of Education.
If these words are crucial to the meaning of your search, you will need to use quotation marks to force the search engine to use them. Example: "state of the art".
