Methods and apparatuses for locating electronic documents by allowing a user to specify, prioritize and control the order of a resulting hit list at the front end of a search are provided. One embodiment provides a method for searching electronic documents, comprising: receiving a search expression including one or more search terms having one or more weight criteria, wherein the one or more weight criteria include a user designated score modifier; finding one or more candidate documents based on the search expression; calculating a score for each candidate document according to the one or more weight criteria; and transmitting information for displaying a list of the one or more candidate documents reflecting the calculated scores. The weight criteria may be selected from a location of the one or more search terms, a format of the one or more search terms, and a frequency count of the one or more search terms.