Use keywords, not phrases or sentences. Put keywords in separate search boxes in the databases (so that the word AND is between the keywords).
Databases sometimes try to match the exact phrase you type with phrases in the results, so you get fewer results with longer phrases. Short, commonly used phrases, like “single parent” or “drug abuse” are okay because those phrases are likely to be used in many of the results. Examples:
Using AND
In many databases, it is important to use the word AND between your keywords. Many databases will already have AND for you on the Advanced Search screen.
|
To find: |
Use: |
| mental illness in prisons | "mental illness" AND prisons |
|
effects of permanency planning on adoption outcomes |
"permanency planning" AND outcomes |
|
assessment of child welfare in New York |
assessment AND "child welfare" AND "New York" |
Screen shot showing how to enter the mental illness in prisons topic into a database. It does not matter in what order you put the terms.
Using OR/ similar terms
|
To find: |
You could expand your results by adding similar terms such as : |
| mental illness in prisons | ("mental illness" OR "mental disorders") AND (prisons OR jails OR "detention centers") |
|
effects of permanency planning on adoption outcomes |
"permanency planning" AND (outcomes OR evaluation OR assessment) |
Examples of truncation:
| Use | To find |
| assess* | assess, assesses, assessment, assessments, assessing |
| evaluat* | evaluate, evaluation, evaluated, etc. |
| effect* | effect, effective, effectiveness, etc. |
| effic* | efficacy, efficacious, efficaciously, efficaciousness, etc. |
| outcome* | outcome, outcomes, etc. |
| prison* | prison, prisons, prisoner, prisoners, etc. |
| program* | program, programs, programming, etc. |
Some databases use a ? or other symbol instead of * for truncation. Check the help screen, or just try a search to see if a symbol works. Psycinfo, Social Services Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, and Social Work Abstracts use *.
Phrase searching is useful in some databases when you want to find an exact phrase.
| A search for: | Would find: |
| "family violence" | citations that include the exact phrase family violence |
| family violence | citations that only include the word family and citations that only include the word violence |
| "detention center" | citations that include the exact phrase detention center |
| detention center | citations that only include the word detention and citations that only include the word center |
Screen shot showing combination of the search strategies above:
