Find sources
Searching is strategic
What does that mean? It means you don't have time as a student (or employee!) to read through thousands of articles just to find out the majority of them are not relevant to your paper topic. To avoid that you have to:
1. Search in the right place.
2. Search the right way.
Search in the right place: You've probably heard professors or librarians tell you before that using the library resources is best, but you know from personal experience that you find so much more information much more easily by using Google. That's true. Google is easy and it gives you tons of information. The problem is: will your professor accept that information as scholarly? And which of those 3 million articles is most relevant for your research paper? Google searches are based on business algorithms (i.e. the top results most often are trying to sell you something). Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com) is better. It isn't trying to sell you anything directly. It gives you (mostly reliable) scholarly papers. The problem is, often they are in journals that want you to pay to access the article. Worse, some might be in predatory journals, and therefore they may be less reliable. That's why librarians recommend the library databases: they give you scholarly articles that the university has already paid for you to access, published in journals already vetted by experts to be reliable.
Search the right way: When you search library databases, it's not like searching Google. You can't just put in long strings of words or whole questions and get a million results. Just as a simple example, if you are researching effective ways to teach autistic adults, and you search using the word "teaching," you will get thousands of results, because the term is so general, but they may not lead you to articles that you want related to autism. You may need to search again using a synonym, such as "education." Or you might need to use specialized academic terminology like "pedagogy." And you will certainly need to combine terms in a particular way (ex. pedagogy AND autism AND "adult learners") to get the results you want.
Watch this brief video for more information:
How do we search strategically? We'll examine how to determine the right place to search and the right terms to search with in this section of our guide.
Deciding where to search
Where you search for information depends on what you are looking for. You are most likely familiar with Google, which is easy to use and returns quick-to-read/understand resources. It is good for exploratory research, which you do when you are trying to learn the basics of a subject and define your topic. But most of the sources you find on Google are not scholarly and, therefore, will not be acceptable secondary sources for an academic paper. That's where the library databases become important. In library databases, you can find scholarly, vetted, reliable sources that are acceptable for use in academic papers. Watch this video for a more complete understanding:
Demonstrate your research skills
Earn the Google v. Databases Credential
We have discussed the value of Google versus library databases. Demonstrate you understand these differences by submitting the Search Comparison worksheet at the link provided below.
Search using the library catalog
Because Google is not the moat reliable tool to find scholarly sources, the library has a different discovery system: the library catalog and library databases. On this page, we will examine the library catalog. The catalog can be used to search for physical, print resources, like our print books. It can also be used to search for electronic books and even electronic articles.
Where can you find the library catalog?
And how can you conduct a basic search using the catalog? The library catalog can be found at https://library.centre.edu. To learn more about finding the catalog and conducting a basic search, watch this video:
How can you refine your search results?
Most of the time when searching, you need to limit your results to certain types of materials, certain years or other specific requirements. The library catalog has built-in features to allow you to easily do this. Watch this video to learn more:
How do you work with your search results?
Once you have useful results, how to you find the full text? How can you save your results for later use? Find out in this video:
Demonstrate your research skills
Earn the Strategic Search - Library Catalog Credential
We have discussed the value of the library catalog. Demonstrate you can use this resource by submitting a library session worksheet at the link provided below.
Search using library databases
Library databases are collections of scholarly sources. Searching multiple databases helps you be persistent and find more specifically relevant sources. We subscribe to numerous databases that will help you view your topic through a particular lens. Some library databases, like Academic Search Complete and Web of Science, search across a variety of academic disciplines. Those are great when you are exploring a topic and would like to see many results. Most databases are subject specific, meaning they focus on a single academic discipline or a group of related disciplines. Using a subject specific database is an excellent way to find the most relevant articles for focused research.
Where can you find the library databases?
Watch this video to learn where to find the library databases:
How do you decide which database to use?
Some database names make it obvious what they contain. For example, the database 19th Century British Pamphlets obviously contains British pamphlets from the 19th century. Some database names, like CINAHL, a nursing database, are less obvious. In our A-Z list of databases, all databases have a description under their name. For example:
While browsing the database names and descriptions, if you don't see a database that seems helpful, check which databases librarians suggest for the subject you are researching by looking for your class subject under the appropriate Division tab:
Librarian Tip: If you need help identifying the best database for your research, ask a librarian!
Demonstrate your research skills
Earn the Strategic Search - Library Databases Credential
We have discussed the value of the library databases. Demonstrate you can use these resources by submitting a library session worksheet at the link provided below.
Identify search terms
One key to a successful search is identifying appropriate search terms to use. Search terms are the words you enter in the search box. Librarians distinguish between different types of search terms, such as keywords, subject terms, author's name and title. Keywords are usually natural language terms and when you search by keyword, the database looks for the words you use in all fields (i.e. in the title, the abstract, the description etc). Subject terms are "controlled vocabulary" words the database associates with an article (we'll discuss "controlled vocabulary" more in the next section). When you search by subject using subject terms, the database usually only searches in the subject field. Similarly, if you search by author's name or title, the database only searches in the author or title fields.
Here, we will discuss identifying keywords, to help you begin your search. Some strategies for identifying keywords include:
Write down your topic, research question, or thesis/hypothesis and then underline the key concepts. For example, if your research question is:
How do microplastics in the ocean impact fishing yields?
Your keywords might be "microplastics" "ocean," "impact" and "fishing". When choosing which words to use, begin with only 2-3 keywords. Avoid long phrases (i.e. search for microplastics, impact and fishing - don't enter the whole question "How do microplastics in the ocean impact fishing yields").
Brainstorm terms related to your key concepts. If one search term doesn't produce the results you want, try synonyms for that word. You can use the mind map/concept map you created when brainstorming your topic for this purpose. For example:
| microplastics in the ocean | impact | fishing yields |
| plastic pollution in water | harm | food insecurity |
| nanoplastics in water | influence | fishing industry |
Find additional terms within your results. Do a quick database search. View the search results page to identify relevant terms. Titles and article abstracts (summaries) often include additional helpful terms. If you find one good article, look at the subject or keywords suggested in the detailed description of that article. Below is an example of the detailed description of an article in an EBSCO database. The provided subject terms are highlighted, as are potentially useful keywords in the abstract.
Watch this video to learn more strategies to expand your search terms:
Use controlled vocabularies
In addition to strategies like brainstorming synonyms for your keywords, using the keywords provided with some articles and gleaning additional useful terms from the titles and abstracts of "good articles," another extremely useful strategy to help you improve your search terms is to use the controlled vocabularies in the database's thesaurus or index, if one exists. Let's look at each of these to see how they can help.
What are controlled vocabularies?
Databases, through their thesauri or indices, use "controlled vocabularies" to describe/label all their contents and make them searchable. A controlled vocabulary provides a consistent way to describe the information in the database. For example, suppose a database has several articles on the fishing industry, but some refer to this concept as fisheries. The database needs one consistent term to refer to this concept. The controlled vocabulary specifies which term is preferred. In this case "fisheries" is the proper vocabulary term used in most databases. If you search using the subject term "fisheries," you will get all the articles using this term and all the articles using the term "fishing industry," thus expanding your results. But how would you know which term was preferred? You'd use the database thesaurus or index to find out. The database thesaurus lists all the subject terms in the database, used to classify and organize information for that database. The thesaurus shows relationships between terms such as synonymous or related terms, and hierarchical arrangements such as broader terms, or narrower terms. Indices include people (as authors or subjects) and locations, in addition to subject terms. Also, some indices allow you to search by document type, journal name, etc.
Where do you find the thesaurus or index? It is often linked at the top of the page:
Using the database thesaurus
You can search a database thesaurus using any term and find the database's preferred term. For example, if we were researching the impact of microplastics on the fishing industry and finding few results, we might try to find a better term for "fishing industry":
You see where we searched for "fishing industry" and the database tells us to use "fisheries" and even makes that a link we can click to immediately see all the results for that term.
Let's look at another example, to highlight another important aspect of using a thesaurus - exploding our results. Suppose we search for the phrase "plastic pollution." We would get these results:
We see the database prefers the term "plastic scrap." We would be most interested in "plastic scrap & the environment." Notice the checkbox to the right. It allows us to explode the results for this term. Exploding a term in a thesaurus means that the search will retrieve all references indexed to that term as well as all references indexed to any narrower term.
Using the database index
An index for a database is similar to the index in the back of a book - it lists all the subjects contained in the book or database, using a controlled vocabulary. We can also search a database index to learn its preferred terms to improve our searches and to find results including those terms. In the example below, we search for "food insecurity," in a database that has an index. The index tells us "food security" is an indexed term, and therefore, preferred term that appears in 1,411 entries in the database. We can select that term and search for those entries.
Using the controlled vocabulary terms available in a database thesaurus or index can increase the number of relevant search results we receive.
Librarian Tip! The index of a database also lists people, places, companies, etc. See below for examples of Ebsco indicies:
Demonstrate your research skills
Earn the Strategic Search - Keywords Credential
We have discussed multiple methods for expanding your keywords. Demonstrate you can apply these methods by submitting a library session worksheet at the link provided below.
Understanding how databases "think" to improve your results
Once you've identified your keywords and decided which databases you want to search within, it is time to search. To get the best results out of your search, it is important to understand how search engines work, so you can make them perform for you. Here is what you need to know:
Take advantage of quotation marks
Let's look at complex search phrase: plastic pollution AND fishing industry. The order of the words and the connection between them makes a difference. We want to search for the exact phrase: plastic pollution, and the exact phrase: fishing industry. We want articles with those phrases, not articles including just the term plastic or just the term industry. To make a search engine search for an exact phrase, put it in quotes: "plastic pollution" and "fishing industry" will return articles with these exact phrases. You may hear this referred to as "phrase searching."
Take advantage of wildcards
Wildcards broaden your search to include various word endings and spellings. To use a wildcard, enter the root of a word and put the wildcard symbol at the end or in another appropriate place. The database will return results that include any ending of that root word. For example:
- child* = child, child's, childish, children, children's, childhood
- genetic* = genetic, genetics, genetically
- wom*n=woman, women
- hea*one=headphone, headstone, healthone, hearthstone, heartstone, heatherstone
Wildcard symbols may vary by database, but common symbols include: *, !, ?, or #
Wildcards can be combined in a search term-
colo#r* = colorblind, coloring, etc and colourblind, colouring etc.
Humans think in sentences and phrases, so we ask questions like, "How do microplastics impact fishing?" Search engines think in keywords combined using Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT). Search engines reduce our questions to what they think are the keywords and automatically search for some combination of them. So, if we entered our question about microplastics into a search engine, it would immediately disregard the words "what," "are," "the" and "of." The search engine calls those 'stop words' -- words that are very common and, therefore, useless when searching. The search engine would then search for results that contains the terms "microplastics" AND "impact" AND "fishing." AND is the default Boolean operator for most search engines. When a search engine combines two or more keywords using the AND operator, both (or all) those keywords have to be present in the article in order for the search engine to return results.
The search engine will only display results in that middle, overlapping slice - the ones with both terms present. That is good because those are the most relevant results - the ones most related to all aspects of your research question, not microplastics in general or fishing in general, but both topics together. To get the most out of search engines you must take full advantage of Boolean Operators. AND is not the only Boolean Operator. You can also use OR and NOT. Let's look at some examples.
Again, suppose your research question is, "How do microplastics impact fishing?"
You start by entering the following into your search engine: microplastics and fishing. As we saw above, the search engine will return all the results containing both words: microplastics and fishing. Suppose you don't get enough results. In that case, try expanding your search using OR and synonyms for one or more of your search terms. For example, try entering: microplastics AND (seafood OR fishing). Notice, if you use a combination of AND and OR operators in a search, enclose the words to be "ORed" together in parentheses. Using parenthesis in this manner is called "nesting." By using OR, you will get these results:
With this search, you get more articles because you will see all the results with either "seafood" or "fishing" along with microplastics- both of the overlapping areas instead of just one.
Note about nesting: Nesting terms, or enclosing terms within parenthesis, is done to control the order in which the database reads the search terms. Information within parentheses is read first, and then information outside parentheses is read next. So, for example, (microplastics OR plastics) AND fishing will return different results than microplastics OR plastics AND fishing.
Returning to the Boolean Operators, what if you are getting too many results, and many of them are related to fishing problems in Indonesia, but you are not interested in Indonesia? Try limiting your search using the NOT operator by entering: microplastics AND fishing NOT Indonesia. This will remove articles mentioning Indonesia from your search results.
With this search you will get fewer articles - only the ones in the area marked with the green check mark - but these results are more closely related to your research question.
How do Boolean Operators work in a database? Watch this video to find out:
Demonstrate your research skills
Earn the Strategic Search - Basic Strategies Credential
We have discussed basic search strategies when using library databases. Demonstrate you can apply these strategies by submitting a library session worksheet at the link provided below.
Really understanding how databases "think" to improve your results
Once you've used and exhausted the basic search strategies (quotation marks, wildcards, and Boolean Operators) to search within a database, it is time to expand your searching to make the best use of your time and further explore what other searching techniques you can employ. You want to know even more about what a database can offer. Here is what you need to know:
Advanced filtering
Each database has its own set of ways to refine (a.k.a. "filter" or "limit") the results it returns. When you use these filters or limiters, you get the most relevant results possible. When you are beyond the exploratory stage of your research and have a well defined information need, you may even find it useful to apply filters or limiters before you enter any keywords or search terms.
What are some examples of filters or limiters? In PsycINFO, for example, you would see the filters/limiters below:
| Filters/limiters available when entering Advanced Search Terms | Filters available after results are returned |
 |
 |
Here are some explanations of these filters and why they might be useful:
|
Filters/limiters common to many databases |
Examples of filters available in only some databases |
|
Publication Types/Source Type - allows you to limit your results to peer reviewed articles, for example Publication year - allows you to specify the year or year range of publication. This is valuable, for example, when it is important to limit your results to more recent information. Subject – suggests major categories related to your search terms, such as fish, pollution, law, or environmental science. Publication – lists the journals, such as the British Journal of Animal Behavior, that your results come from. This is valuable when you can identify important journals in your field. Publisher – lists the publishers, such as Dove Medical Press, that your results come from. This is valuable when you can identify important publishers in your field. Language – lists the languages your results are written in. |
Many of the filters/limiters below are specific to certain disciplines like Psychology, Biology, and other natural or life sciences, since they relate to the needs of scientific experiments: Tests and measures – allows you to limit by specific test, such as TM Beck Depression Inventory or Life Events Scale, for example Methodology – captures the research method used in a study, such as empirical study, field study, focus group, clinical trial or meta analysis. Populations – limits to specific groups studied, such as animals vs. humans or populations in a certain area of the world. Gender – limits to male/female/nonbinary |
Librarian Tip: The examples above are from an EBSCO database. Different databases have different types of filters/limiters. If you need help identifying or using the best filters for your search needs, ask a librarian!
Proximity searching
Proximity searching is a way to search for keywords of at least two terms that occur within a certain number of words from each other. In EBSCO databases, the operators for proximity searching are represented by the letter N (for near) or W (for within) and a number to specify the number of words. You place the proximity operators between the words that are to be searched. Here are some examples:
- Near- N6 finds the words if they are a maximum of six words apart from one another, regardless of the order in which they appear. Specifically, search microplastics N6 pollut* to find results that have a maximum of six words between the beginning and ending terms. That search example would match microplastics pollution as well as microplastics that have polluted or pollutants on weathered polyethylene microplastics
- Within- W5 finds the words if they are within five words of one another, in the order in which you entered them. For example, search microplastics W5 pollut* to find results that would match microplastics pollution but would not match informal landfill contributes to the pollution of microplastics
Below are EBSCO examples that have combined basic searching skills (phrase searching, the use of wildcards, and boolean operators) with the advanced strategy of proximity searching. :
- plastic N5 pollution OR fishing N5 industry - would return all results with the term plastic five words apart from pollution or the word fishing five words apart from industry, regardless of the order of these words.
- ("plastic pollution") N10 fishing - would return results with the exact phrase "plastic pollution" ten words apart from the word fishing, regardless of the order of the phrase and word.
- microplastics W3 (pollution OR clean-up OR contamination) N5 (fisheries OR "aquatic habitats") - would return results with the word microplastics before, and with three words of pollution or clean-up or contamination and with the word fisheries or the exact phrase "aquatic habitats" anywhere within 5 words.
Remember to use the near operator when the order of the words does not matter and use the within operator when you want to words to display in a certain order.
EBSCO databases are not the only databases that allow proximity searching. Many databases have this feature. To determine if proximity searching is an option in the database you are using, check the search tips in the database. Also, be aware that different databases use different formats for proximity search queries. For example, in Web of Science, the search phrase: microplastics NEAR/6 pollut* finds results that have a maximum of six words between microplastics and words like pollution/pollutants (i.e. Web of Science uses NEAR/# instead of N# as the search term).
Some databases have proximity searching built into the search function. For example, in the library database JSTOR, from the main interface, you can select the 'advanced search' option to construct your search query. From there, you have the ability to add a proximity search under the BOOLEAN section (see below).
Librarian Tip! When using advanced search features with Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT, NEAR), these terms should be entered in upper case letters to ensure they are not treated as literal words.
Demonstrate your research skills
Earn the Strategic Search - Advanced Strategies Credential
We have discussed advanced search strategies when using library databases. Demonstrate you can apply these strategies by submitting a library session worksheet at the link provided below.
Database special features
Each database has different functionalities and features. These special features may help you:
- search more effectively
- view your topic in a new way.
It would be beneficial to you to familiarize yourself with what the databases can offer you. Here are some important databases with extremely helpful special features. Choose the links most interesting to you to explore further:
Databases focused on specific subjects
Nexis Uni Company Info - Nexis Uni, to find business profiles, industry analysis and SEC filings
Nexis Uni Legal - Nexis Uni to find case law, legal briefs and legal precedent
PsycArticles - to find psychology research related to specific age or population groups, research methodologies or classification codes
Databases with tools to help you focus your research
Opposing Viewpoints - Topic Finder
Topic finder helps you find topics and results related to your search terms using visualized categories. Great for exploring a topic.
JSTOR - Text Analyzer
Text Analyzer allows you to copy/paste text or upload a document to be analyzed. The analyzer returns associated scholarly articles based on the analysis. Great when you have a good article or even a research prospectus and you want to see related articles, search terms, names of and important researchers available in JSTOR.
HeinOnline - Venn Diagram
The Venn Diagram search allows you to visualize the results of various keyword searches to better refine your results.
Web of Science - Analyze results feature
Web of Science Analyze Results allows you to segment and examine search results by categories such as disciplines, authors, countries/regions, funding agencies, and more.
Persistence in research is important!
Professors almost always specify a certain number of references you must use for a research paper. Why do you think they do that? It isn't because they know the magic number of references you will need to find that research gap, support your thesis/hypothesis, or develop a broader understanding of your topic. And it definitely isn't because they are dictating a number of sources you need before you stop researching. They are specifying a high number because they want you to read broadly enough to be forced to thoroughly explore the topic. In other words, they want you to:
- consider research as open-ended exploration;
- value intellectual curiosity;
- recognize that a given scholarly work may not represent the only or even the most commonly accepted perspective on the issue;
- value persistence, adaptability, and flexibility;
- seek multiple perspectives during information gathering and assessment
These are information seeking behaviors that are valuable in academics as well as professional and personal life. Obviously, you have a certain amount of time to get a paper written for your classes (you'll have a limited amount of time to get research done in your professional life too). So what are some strategies to help you be more persistent and find better information while still being efficient with your time management?
- Search using multiple keyword (use synonyms, for example)
- Search in multiple databases
- Look beyond the first page of results - look at no less than the first 3 pages of results.
- Don't stop searching until you find results that add to your knowledge and that oppose your current viewpoint.
- Use advanced search strategies, like citation mining (when you find one good article, look at both its works cited page and use a tool like Web of Science or Google Scholar to find out who cited that article. Citation mining is explained in more detail in the Identify a Topic / What is a research gap section of this credential).
Tools to make persistence easier!
How can you find more articles / feel confident you found the most important articles for your topic? Literature mapping (related to Concept mapping) is a way to identify academic articles by exploring connections between them. Articles can be "connected" by citations, authors, funders, keywords, and other means. These connections can be identified using free browser-based tools like the ones listed below:
How do literature mapping tools work? Watch this video demonstration of Connected Papers to find out: