Foreign Relations of the United States

The official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity.

Searching within the Database

Full-Text Searching

The search bar is stationary throughout HeinOnline. After entering the Foreign Relations of the United States database, the search bar will search only within this database.

Search for articles pertaining to a topic using the search bar. For example, enter the phrase china AND "united states" AND policy into the search bar and select Just search for:.

Within the results, terms matching the search query appear in bold text within the matching text page snippets. Refine the results using the facets on the left side of the page. Available facets include date, document type, section type, subjects, and title. Sort search results by relevance, volume date, and more. Find cited-by information and access tools, such as an instant PDF download, on the right side of each search result. Use the icons next to the sort-by bar to modify your current search, to search within results, to toggle all matching text pages, or to turn OFF infinite scroll.

Foreign Relations of the U.S. search results

Advanced Search

The Advanced Search link located beneath the search bar functions much like the Advanced Search option in other databases, allowing users to search particular fields within the metadata for more precise results. Enter text, title, description, or date keywords into the text boxes provided. Refine the search to a specific document type, including CFR Title 22, CRS Reports, GAO Reports, the Foreign Relations of the United States series, and other related works.

For example, perform a search for Ulysses S. Grant filtered by the dates of his presidency, as shown below, to view nearly 400 results.

Venn Diagram Search

Users can now visualize the results yield of various keywords to better refine their searches.

To use the Venn Diagram feature in the Foreign Relations of the United States database, select the Advanced Search hyperlink to find the Venn Diagram Search within.

Users will be redirected to a search bar, instructions for its use, and example searches. Enter a search for multiple terms separated with the Boolean operators "AND." A Venn Diagram will appear, illustrating the various combinations of those terms and their respective results yield throughout the database. The original search combining all terms will appear by default, visually represented by the red intersection of all circles.

View a sample Venn Diagram Search for the terms "nuclear proliferation" AND russia AND "united states" below.