Stop Words are small words e.g. articles, prepositions, pronouns) which the database ignores in a search request generally, or in a particular field. in the database record. When searching for adjacent word - a word within so many words of another word - the database will skip the stop words in the count.
Every search platform has its list and rules about Stop Words, e.g. in Thompson Reuter's Web of Science a a stop word IS recognized as a word in the Publication Name field.
EXAMPLE of STOP WORDS from PROQUEST
