You can also try re-phrasing your topic to explain it to a friend or someone who doesn't know as much as you do about it.
If you haven't picked a topic, visit the "Choose a Topic" page on the Research Help Guide.
Any search is only as good as the words that you use. Spend some time before you start searching brainstorming keywords and related terms.
Good keywords are usually nouns and short phrases. For example, if my research question is "How do renewable plastics impact climate change ?" I might pick renewable, plastic, and climate change.
KEYWORDS: | Renewable | Plastic | Climate Change |
Similar related terms: | Green; Sustainable; Recyclable; Natural | Bags; Bottles; Containers | Global warming; Temperature Rise |
Opposite related terms | One-time use; Non-recylable; Garbage |
If you are having trouble finding keywords try an online thesaurus such as thesaurus.com.
Sometimes it can help to get more background information on your topic, especially if you don't know much about it. Often in academic papers we aren't allowed to use Wikipedia as a source. Here are some reliable encyclopedias you can try instead:
Contains full text online reference books on the subjects of art, business, education, environment, history, medicine, multicultural studies, religion, science, and social science. This alternative to Wikipedia is a great place to start your research.
Provides comprehensive coverage of all subject areas. It is useful throughout the research process, especially as a starting place to identify key concepts and get background information.
Perform your initial search with the one keyword (or keyword phrase) that describes your most important topic idea.
We recommend as you start your research, start big and broad! Use your first few searches to test out how much information is available on your topic.
The short answer is because of artificial intelligence (AI).
The long answer is because nearly all databases use AI in their search algorithms, and that algorithm includes looking for related keywords automatically. Quotation marks typically override this automatic related-words search.
Skim article titles, abstracts, and subjects (highlighted with labels) listed in your search results.
In this example, an additional (and maybe better) keyword is Generation Alpha.
To find the most relevant and useful results, you will want to perform multiple searches using different keywords.
This process is called "iterative searching." Good research is iterative, meaning it is a circular process where you repeat steps more than once and improve upon what you have done before. Changing up your keywords is part of this process.
Different keywords bring back different kinds of results for different kinds of readers.
Find more relevant information by adding in keywords that target specific aspects of your topic.
For precision searching. Quotation marks restrict the database to finding results containing keywords in the exact order as written, which means the precise context you need is reflected in the search results.
For precision searching. AND commands the database to find search results containing keyword #1 AND keyword #2.
We can change that! There are a couple reasons why you might get zero, or very few, results:
We can change that!
Add in additional keywords that target specific aspects of your topic.
Databases have built-in tools to help you filter through your search results to identify the best resources. Most database results pages offer the following tools:
Talk to a librarian about using built-in tools to help make your research process easier and more efficient.
We all use it - now let's learn to use it better! Improve your Googling skills to save time and make it easier to identify better sources of information.