Searching for Literature

When you have analysed your topic and created a list of keywords and synonyms, the next step is to think about how you will structure your search to include (where relevant):

• Boolean operators (to narrow and expand your search results).
• phrase searching, truncation, wildcards and proximity indicators (to find all variations of search terms and phrases).
• field codes (to instruct a database to search in a specific field).
• and options to refine your results within databases.

Utilising combinations of all of these tools/options/functions will help you to develop an effective search strategy and locate the most relevant resources.

Note: You will most likely need to use more than one search strategy, and search in more than one place to find relevant research papers.

Once you have a list of keywords and synonyms, you can connect these with the Boolean Operators AND, OR and NOT to find relevant results in databases and search engines.

Find references containing ALL search terms (AND)

Use AND to find references containing all of your search terms.

This narrows your search results and is useful for finding references containing the main concepts in your search.

Example: bioplastic* AND algae

Find references containing ANY search terms (OR)

Use OR to find references containing any of your search terms.

This broadens your search results and is useful for locating synonyms and alternative terms.

Example: PFAS OR "perfluoroakyl substance*" OR "polyfluoroalkyl substance*"

Exclude a term from your search (NOT*)

Use NOT (some databases use AND NOT) to find the first search term but exclude the second search term.

This narrows your search and is useful for excluding an irrelevant term from your search results.

Example: "Lithium ion batter*" NOT cathode

*Note: Use NOT with caution as you may inadvertently exclude relevant references from your search.

There are a range of other search tips you can use to refine your searches and retrieve the most relevant results. The following is just a selection.

Databases and search engines all have pages which detail their specific search tips and examples of how they are used, including:

• Web of Science
• Scopus 
• ProQuest

Find all possible endings of a word

Include a Truncation symbol (*) at the end of a search term to find all variations of the word. Use the root word followed by a truncation symbol.

Example: Australia* finds Australia OR Australia's OR Australian OR Australians.

*Note: you can also use the truncation symbol (*) to replace 0 or more characters within a word, to find both American and British spellings.

Example: col*r finds references spelt color OR colour.

Find different word spellings

Use a Wildcard (?) in place of a single letter within a search term to find all spelling variations of that word.

Example: organi?ation finds references containing either organisation or organization.

Group concepts together

Use Parentheses (brackets) to combine keywords, control the order of boolean operators, and create more focused search queries.

Example: (bird OR avian)

Find exact phrases

Use quotation marks (" ") to find 2 or more words in a reference located together and in that exact order to help eliminate irrelevant publications.

Example: "carbon dioxide"

Combine your keywords and alternative terms with boolean operators and other search tips to create your search strategy: