Some databases will find the exact word or phrase, so make sure your spelling is accurate or you will miss references. You may wish to search in title fields only if you want a small number of specific results. Database search strategies use a combination of free text and subject headings (where applicable).Ī keyword search usually looks for your search terms in the title and abstract of a reference. Keywords are free text words and phrases. Using truncation and wildcards can save you time and effort by finding alternative keywords. When you've done this, you should have lists of words and phrases for each concept as in this completed PICO model (PDF) or this example concept map (PDF).Īs you search and scan articles and abstracts, you may discover different key terms to enhance your search strategy. Examine relevant abstracts or articles for alternative words, phrases and subject headings (if the database uses subject headings).Search for your concepts on a search engine like Google Scholar, scanning the results for alternative words and phrases.To find alternative keywords or phrases for your concepts try the following: Your aim is to consider each of your concepts and come up with a list of the different ways they could be expressed. The next sections show some techniques you can use to develop your search strategy.Ĭoncepts can be expressed in different ways eg “self-esteem” might be referred to as “self-worth”. It also shows where keyword techniques like truncation, wildcards and adjacency searching have been used. The example shows the subject heading and keyword searches that have been carried out for each concept within our research question and how they have been combined using Boolean operators. Take a look at this example literature search in PsycINFO (PDF) about self-esteem. It is a good idea to test your strategies and refine them after you have reviewed the search results. You may wish to develop a number of separate search strategies if your research covers several different areas. truncated and wildcard variations of search termsĮach database works differently so you need to adapt your search strategy for each database.Your search strategy will account for all: The search strategy combines the key concepts of your search question in order to retrieve accurate results. Help in person for staff and researchersĪ search strategy is an organised structure of key terms used to search a database.Deposit your research outputs in Symplectic.Creation, problem solving and innovation.Communication, collaboration and participation.
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