Having trouble with your search? Try these tips!
- If advanced search options are not available, try using Boolean operators to get more accurate and relevant results. For example:
- Everything within quotation marks will search for that exact phrase or words
- Using AND, OR, NOT between words or phrases
- AND will look for both terms (narrows search), OR will look for either but not both (broaden search), and NOT will exclude terms
- Here’s an example: “cephalopod mating” AND behavior
- When in doubt, keep it simple. Too many terms and phrases at once will not get any results. Use the limiters as you go to refine searches rather than limiting everything from the start.
- Scientific names for organisms (species, genus, phylum, etc.) – use scientific names to get more accurate results. Using common names can limit or give irrelevant results.
- If you have a long article or book to look through and don’t feel like sifting through pages of information for hours, try using the key command CTRL+F to look for specific words and phrases within a document!
- Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus:
- To make an advanced search in Google, click on “tools” and then “advanced search”
- Use the site or domain search bar to narrow your search to certain domain types, such as .edu or .org
- Or you can type your search phrase into the main search bar in a regular search and add “site:.edu” to the end of the phrase (without quotation marks).
- If you’re having a hard time coming up with other sources for your topic, try looking at the works cited section of the sources you already have to find similar research and other authors/ researchers doing similar work. This will give you another angle to work with and other avenues to follow. If this still yields no results, you might need to try widening your topic a little bit.
- Wikipedia:
- While I wouldn’t use a wiki article as a source for a project, if you’re really stuck, taking a look at the citations listed at the end of a Wikipedia page that is related to your topic might give you some ideas. Just be sure to check the credibility of the sources before using them.
- Making citations:
- Many of the larger databases have a “get link” or “cite” button that you can click on to get a citation in any style you need! If there’s not a feature like that, I recommend using Purdue Owl for a comprehensive guide on all different citation styles.
- https://owl.purdue.edu/