The default search is a References search, looking at the literature. Type your terms into the search box, using AND between them such as phytoremediation AND heavy metals AND deep flooding 

Your results will look something like this. The terms you searched with will be highlighted, they will show the citation and abstract of the article, a link at the left foot for full text and links at the right foot for citing articles and a citation map. 

Just above the list of references, there is a dropdown menu that will allow you to sort the retrieved set by relevance, times cited, newest, oldest, and the like. 

Each record will show Concepts (other related terms), Substances (these might be metals, chemicals or drugs), and Cited Documents links under the abstract in each record. You will note the journal citation, company affiliation of the [first] author and some references to similar articles at the foot of each. 

In the example below, the search set has been sorted by how often the works have been cited by other works. Choose "times cited" on the dropdown menu to do this.

Having been cited often is one way that important authors, papers, and journals may be identified (although it is important to remember that someone's work may have been cited for an error).

The developers of the database have worked hard to make SciFinder's search pages very explicit, by including boxes for specificly required fields. For example, the author search requires last name, then asks for first name and initial; you may search with just the last name, if it is distinctive enough, and then choose from the resulting list.

Journal title searches generalize the title, so that if you put in Soil Science Journal, you will also get variations such as Soil Science Society of America Journal. You may search using journal title abbreviations, but don't use punctuation: JES, not J.E.S.

SciFinder includes a subject list or thesaurus, called CAS Lexicon,  as a way to find better terms for searches. It is normally shown below the search boxes, and if you click through and put a term in, it will give you more information or alternative terms.