You can search in an academic database the same way you would search in Google, with a few simple keywords that the search engine will reinterpret and adjust for you.
However, these databases also allow you to use advanced search techniques to create a search that is precise, targeted, which you control (rather than an algorithm).
Instead of jumping in to your search with a handful of intuitively-picked keywords, take a moment to break your question into key concepts, then brainstorm some synonyms for each concept.
Watch the video in Mapping your topic (Study Smart module 1.2.4).
Read the information and examples in Build on your key concepts (Study Smart module 2.2.1).
Once you have a set of words to search with, we need to group and connect them in a logical way, with Boolean operators and phrase searching. We will also edit and markup the search words to find more variations.
Watch this video on Boolean operators to see how AND and OR can be used to connect your search terms.
When we search with multiple words, the search engine will assume those words can appear in any order, and in any position.
So a search for school teacher could find a result saying: a teacher with the School of Design
If you want to search with an exact phrase, put the phrase in quotation marks "" ie "school teacher"
If you are comfortable using Boolean operators and phrase searching, you can also consider adding truncation, wildcards and subject headings to your search. More info on these techniques are in Study Smart module 2.2.2.
You can also use filters or limiters to only see particular types of results.
The most commonly used limiter is publication date, to only see results published in a specified time range. Often databases will provide the option to limit to peer reviewed publications too.
Specialist databases will also come with their own special filters. For example, ERIC offers a filter for education level:
Searching is an iterative process, and your first search will always need tweaking. Before you start opening links and reading papers, consider whether your search has worked overall. Are the results relevant? Are there too many or too few?
Read the considerations and suggested fixes in Review and revise your search (Study Smart module 3.1.1)
If you already have a really good relevant paper, you can use citation searching to find other sources connected to that paper.
You will see that the Library search, and most databases, will have a 'Related results' or 'View citations' section in the full record of a search result.
Watch this video to see the technique demonstrated in Google Scholar
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