Connecting Keywords
There are several databases that can help you locate the scholarly articles needed for this course. When working in these databases, think about your search terms. Below are a few tips to help you get started:
Connector | Example | Results |
---|---|---|
AND | risk factors AND colon cancer | Results will contain all the terms |
OR | colon cancer OR colorectal cancer | Results will contain either term |
NOT | seniors NOT high school | Results eliminate a term |
A Few Tips
Truncation
To search varied endings of words, you can use a truncation symbol. Truncation symbols change per database but the asterisk (*) can be used in CINAHL, PsycINFO, ERIC, Web of Science and more. For example, searching: epidem* will retrieve articles with the words epidemiology and epidemiological but also epidemics.
In PubMed, the truncation symbol (the asterisk) can be used, but it will shut off the automatic mapping. Although there are exceptions, we generally do not start searching with a truncation symbol in PubMed. In PubMed, you must have at least 4 letters before inserting a truncation symbol.
Phrase Searching
Sometimes you need to have two words appear side-by-side, with no words in between. To search an exact phrase, surround the terms with quotation marks. For example, you could search: "social support." As with a truncation symbol, this will also shut off the automatic mapping in PubMed. Generally, we do not start off using quotation marks in PubMed, but there are always exceptions.
Proximity Searches
Several databases allow for proximity searching. This search method allows for you to search for words near each other but they do not need to be next to each other. For example in CINAHL, PsycINFO and ERIC, you can search:
tax N5 soda Retrieves articles in which the word tax and soda have no more than 5 words between them (any order).
tax W8 soda Retrieves articles in which which the word tax is within 8 words of soda but in that exact order.