Searching effectively

Planning your search is an important part of scientific research and can help you to:

• Focus on the key components of your research question or topic
• Identify what evidence is required
• Develop an effective search strategy

Example:

How do different environmental pollutants affect lung function and respiratory health?

In this example, the key concepts are:

Synonyms

To begin developing a search strategy, start creating a list of synonyms for your key concepts. This is an important step because different terminology may be used to describe a single concept. For example; heart failure, cardiac failure and myocardial failure are all used to describe the same condition.

To begin developing your list of synonyms, consider the following:

• What terminology is used by professionals and experts in your field?
• If you're unsure of the terminology used, browse relevant textbooks, journal articles, reports, encyclopedias, etc.
• Investigate if terminology differs based on geographic region. For example, excavator (AUS) and backhoe (USA) are both used to describe the same construction equipment.

Search techniques

Using your list of synonyms, you can then apply the following techniques to improve the efficacy of your search strategy. Remember to only apply the techniques that are relevant to your search terms, you do not have to include them all.

Please note: the table above is an example only and not an exhaustive search strategy. The number of concepts, synonyms and search techniques used in a search strategy will vary depending on the research question or topic.