Here are a few tips to help you develop a good search strategy:
1. Use two or three keywords rather than a complete sentence. Example:
TOPIC: I'm interested in finding articles on the importance of photosynthesis to global ecosystem.
KEYWORDS: photosynthesis --- plants – oxygen --- light --- carbon dioxide
The other words do not relate to the core concepts of the research question and are not effective keywords.
2. Use quotation marks " " when you want to search for a phrase. Example:
"social media" or “organizational behavior”
3. Too few or poor results? Use synonyms and related terms to find different results. Example:
"education" in place of "learning"
“resistance training” in place of “strength training"
Truncation symbol, [an asterisk (*), dollar sign ($), or plus sign (+), etc.], with the root/stem of a word broadens your search to include various wording endings:
child*=child or children or childhood
Truncation is used to search for various endings to root words. Use the asterisk symbol (*) for truncation.
Examples of truncation:
International spellings:
theat* -> theatre, theater, ALSO theatrical
Various endings:
comput* -> computer, computing, computation
psycho* -> psychology, psychopathic, psychopathology, psychotherapy
Use as many common letters as possible:
colon* -> colonoscopy, colonization, colon, colony
coloni* -> colonization, colonies, colonialism
Wildcard symbol may also be used to replace a single character to include different spellings:
wom?n for women or woman
Wildcards are used for search terms with unknown characters and alternate spellings.
Wildcard symbols include:
? = matches exactly one letter
# = match zero or one letter
* = matches multiple letters
Some examples using ?:
Plurals: wom?n -> woman, women
International spelling: defen?e -> defense, defence
Unsure of spelling: devi?nce -> deviance, devience
Some examples using #:
International spellings: colo#r -> color, colour
Plurals: color# -> color, colors
Unsure of spelling: gover#ment -> goverment, government
Combine wildcards: colo#r# -> color, colour, colors, colours
Some examples using *:
International spellings: orthop*dic -> orthopedic, orthopaedic
Related concepts: psych*y -> psychology, psychiatry, psychotherapy, psychopathy
Replace entire word: "A Midsummer * dream" -> A midsummer night's dream
Link your keywords, phrases, and synonyms in a search string with AND, OR, NOT. These are called Boolean Operators. For best results, use all caps with AND, OR, & NOT.
Narrow results with AND:
"social media" AND anxiety AND teenager
Widen results with OR:
anxiety OR depression
Remove results with NOT:
Instagram NOT Facebook
[Caution: this can remove results that are primarily about Instagram but have one mention of Facebook.]
Use Parentheses to combine AND and OR in a search string:
"social media" AND (anxiety OR depression)
"social media" AND (anxiety OR depression) AND (teenager OR adolescent)
Use AND in a search to:
The purple triangle in the middle of the Venn diagram below represents the result set for this search. It is a small set using AND, the combination of all three search words.
Be aware: In many, but not all, databases, the AND is implied.
Use OR in a search to:
All three circles represent the result set for this search. It is a big set because any of those words are valid using the OR operator.
Use NOT in a search to:
Maximize your search by combining these tools: