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Psychology Research Guide

Tips for the Search, Evaluation, and Writing Process

1. Identify Keywords that Define your Research

Keywords are terms considered to be “key” to finding information. You might find them useful for your catalog and database searches. Some examples:

  • Keywords in different languages. Latin America, América Latina…
  • Synonyms. Latinos, Hispanics….
  • Related keywords. Globalization, economic integration, migration, diaspora.

Examples of Truncation and Wildcards

Truncation Wildcard

Minerva

(Online Catalog)		 ?

! (for 1 character)

# (for several characters)
Worlcat *

# (for 1 character)     ? (0 to 9 characters)
HAPI Just leave the word root Not available

2. Find Appropiate Databases

Click on the " Find Articles" tab above to find core databases and other useful databases for your search.


3. Have you Found Too Many Resources?

Narrow down your search by using:

  • Subject searches and subject headings for a more controlled search.
  • Boolean operators (AND, NOT)
  • Limits (by date, language, format, specific field, electronic full-text availability…)

4. Do you Need Additional Resources?

Expand Your Search by Using:

  • Keyword in different languages, synonyms, an related keywords.
  • Boolean operators (OR)
  • Truncation. A symbol at the end of a word to retrieve variants of that word. For example: searching for hispan* would find "hispano", "hispanic", “hispanism".
  • Wildcards. A symbol to be embedded within a word to replace a single character or a string of characters. For example: searching for wom?n will find “woman” and “women”.