This is a list of tips for some common situations that arise during the research process. For all of these, we recommend talking with a librarian for more in-depth help.
I get too many results
- Add more search terms with AND ("social media" AND censorship)
- Use NOT to eliminate out-of-context results (dolphins NOT football)
- Put phrases in quotes to find more precise results ("fast fashion")
- Limit your results (e.g. by date or type - like scholarly/peer reviewed articles)
- Ask a librarian via Ask Us, email, or a scheduled Consultation
I get too few results
- Use OR to add related terms (college OR university OR "higher education")
- Use truncation to search various word endings (teen* = teenager, teens, teenaged)
- Use wildcard (?) to search alternate spellings (wom?n = woman, women, womyn)
- Use a broader search term ("social media" instead of TikTok)
- Browse by subject
- Look for sources in the reference list of articles you have found
- Try a different database
- Ask a librarian via Ask Us, email, or a scheduled Consultation
I have trouble coming up with search terms
- Check a thesaurus, read background material, ask an AI text generator for ideas
- Check the titles and abstracts of relevant articles for new terms; look at subject headings in databases and the library catalog
- Look for "find similar results" and similar tools in our online systems
- Ask a librarian via Ask Us, email, or a scheduled Consultation
I have trouble finding the right database
- Use the subject drop-downs on our Databases A-Z list
- Check a Research Guide and their Find Articles/Database section
- Ask a librarian via Ask Us, email, or a scheduled Consultation
