Searching for journal articles or other resources requires that you first identify a research question. Before beginning your database searches, think of one question you want to try to answer during the searching session.
A good research question
If you are struggling to come up with a concise and clear research question, consider looking for more foundational or background information on your topic. Consider consulting a textbook, encyclopedia article, or other reference source.
Weaker
Stronger
The major concepts or ideas present in your article. These are the concepts that must be present in an article or other resource in order for it to answer your question. Be sure to explicitly state all of the concepts or ideas that are important for your question, such as intervention, outcome, and population.
The key concepts are bolded in the examples below.
Keywords are single terms or multi-term phrases that are related to your keyconcepts. Keywords can be synonyms (words that mean the same thing), broader terms, more specific terms, or just related terms.
Example
Concept: College
Keywords
Research databases do not work like Google. Typing a full question or string of words into the search box of a database will almost always return no results. This is because databases require that users utilize operators to define the logical relationship between terms. (Just like calculators require the use of operators [eg, plus sign, multiplication sign] in order to understand what mathematical function you want it to preform.
These are words that help the database understand the logical relationship between the terms in your search. The three main operators are and, or, and not.
Boolean Operators |
||
|
AND
|
OR
|
NOT
|
The operator and should be used to connect your key concepts - the ideas that must be present in an article to answer your question. The operator or should be used to connect keywords - the terms that a research might use to talk about a specific concept or idea.
Question: What factors increase graduation rates of LGBT+ students?
Key Concepts: graduation; LGBT+ students; college
Search Statement:
(graduation OR retention OR school holding power OR academic persistence)
AND
(LGBT OR gay OR homosexual OR lesbian OR bisexual OR transgender OR genderqueer OR genderfluid OR pansexual OR sexual orientation)
AND
(college OR university OR higher education OR post-secondary OR undergraduate OR graduate students)
Research databases are sophisticated tools that have many options for refining and perfecting a literature search. Below are just some of the ways you can refine your search statement or your result set.
 |
|
