ScienceDirect: Quick Start Guide: Advanced Search

Use the Advanced Search if you need to narrow down a large set of results into a small, more relevant set. For example, the search phrase Stone Matrix Asphalt returns a large search set of 2,089 results:

Tip: Using quote marks around a phrase will search for those words in that exact order. Doing so on the phrase "stone matrix asphalt" would have resulted in a more manageable set of 208 citations. 

Selecting "Advanced Search" retains the initial search term, but provides a variety of other search fields to add terms to. It also has check boxes to help "limit" a search. Elsevier calls these "search filters." In this case we added an author name, a year span and limited to Research articles:

The result has been narrowed to a single search result: 

Note: If that is too narrow, you can "Clear all filters" to start over, or click the "X" next to a search filter to remove it, which will broaden or expand search results.