Searching for information – a step by step guide

• Start by writing down the concepts and words that reflect your research question.
• Think about synonyms and related terms that are close to your initial keywords. Keep in mind that things are often described in several different ways – try to capture as many aspects of your question as possible.
• Translate your keywords into English. Most scholarly texts are found in international databases, so searching in English is usually necessary.

Structure your keywords

A useful tool for structuring your chosen keywords is the library’s worksheet, which you can find linked below. The template helps you list the words you come up with and keep track of which ones you’ve already searched for. Often, as you begin searching, you’ll discover more keywords you’d like to try — it’s a good idea to add these to your list as well.

• Worksheet for structuring keywords (word)
• Example: This is what a completed worksheet might look like (pdf)

It is often a good idea to start by searching a more general service, such as Libsearch or Swepub.

Links to Libsearch, Swepub and more tips about how to find scholarly material

Subject guides

In the library’s subject guides, you will find tips on databases, journals, and search strategies selected for different subjects.

Check if there is a subject guide for your area

Subject databases

Many of our databases are focused on specific subjects. In subject-specific databases, you can refine your search more precisely than in general databases like Libsearch and Google Scholar, which helps you get better and more relevant results.

You can find all our databases in our A-Z list

Encyclopaedias and dictionaries

If you are looking for definitions of terms or basic facts about a topic, it can be a good idea to check whether there is an encyclopedia in your subject area.

Online encyclopaedias and dictionaries - libguides.mau.se

Combining your search terms

In most databases, you use Boolean operators (AND, OR, and NOT) when combining two or more search terms. Boolean operators are usually written in English and in capital letters. In some databases, these options are also available in a drop-down menu next to the search box. Here’s how to use AND, OR, and NOT:

Using AND between your search terms means that all the terms must appear in your search results.
Example: climate change AND youth
The more search terms you combine with AND, the fewer results you will get.

 

Using OR between your search terms means that any or all of the terms can appear in your search results.
Example: climate change OR global warming
Use OR when searching for synonyms or related concepts. The more terms you combine with OR, the more results you will get.

 

Use NOT only when you want to exclude a word from your search.
Example: electric cars NOT hybrid cars

 

Searching for a phrase

Use quotation marks (" ") when you want to search for a phrase containing two or more words, for example, "social media". This ensures you only get results that contain the entire phrase.
If you search for social media without quotation marks, you will get results where the two words appear separately anywhere in the text.

Searching for part of a word (truncation)

Search using the beginning of a word followed by an asterisk (*) to find all possible endings and variations of that word.
Example: environ* will find environment, environmental, environmentally, environments, etc.

Searching in selected fields

When using a database’s advanced search, you can often choose to search only within specific fields, such as author, subject terms, or abstract.
This will give you fewer but hopefully more relevant results.

Learn more about how to search in selected fields in this film from Linnaeus University

• Is the article peer-reviewed (scholarly reviewed)?
• Is the article relevant and reliable for your research question?
• Who has written and published the article?
• Is the information up to date, or are there newer articles on the topic?
  In general, articles are considered current if they are no more than five to ten years old, but this also depends on the subject area and how much research is being conducted in the field.

You can use this template (Office Word) to save information about your searches

• Save your search history
  In most databases, you can save your search history. To do this, you usually need to create a free account in the specific database.
• Keep a search log
  Keeping a search log means making notes about the searches you perform and their results. You can write them down by hand or in any program you prefer.