What advanced search techniques can you use to refine your academic research?

1 Boolean operators

Boolean operators are one of the most powerful and versatile search techniques. These words or symbols connect your keywords and modify your search query. The most common Boolean operators are AND, OR, and NOT (or their equivalents +, -, and NOT). These can help you combine, expand, or exclude terms from your search. For example, if you want to research the effects of social media on mental health, you can use Boolean operators like this: social media AND mental health will return results that contain both terms; social media OR mental health will return results that contain either term; and social media NOT mental health will return results that contain social media but not mental health. You can also use parentheses to group terms and create more complex queries. For instance, (social media OR online) AND (mental health OR well-being) will return results that contain either social media or online, and either mental health or well-being.

2 Quotation marks

Another useful search technique is using quotation marks to enclose exact phrases or terms. This can help you find specific information or avoid irrelevant results. For example, if you are looking for the title of a book, you can use quotation marks like this:

- "The Catcher in the Rye": this will return results that contain the exact phrase

- The Catcher in the Rye: this will return results that contain the words in any order or combination

You can also use quotation marks to search for synonyms or variations of a term. For example, "climate change" OR "global warming" will return results that contain either phrase.

3 Advanced search filters

Most search engines offer advanced search filters that can help you refine your results and find the most relevant and updated sources for your research. For example, if you are looking for scholarly articles, you can use filters such as site:.edu OR site:.org to return results from educational or non-profit domains. Additionally, filetype:pdf OR filetype:doc will return results that are PDF or Word documents, while after:2020-01-01 will return results published after January 1, 2020. To access these filters, click on the settings or tools icon on your search engine, or use advanced search operators in your query.

4 Keywords and modifiers

Refining your academic research involves selecting the right keywords and modifiers for your topic. For example, if you are researching the impact of artificial intelligence on education, your main keyword is "artificial intelligence", and your secondary keyword is "education". Modifiers such as "impact", "effect", or "influence" can be used to specify or narrow down your query. Additionally, you can use asterisks (*) as wildcard modifiers to replace unknown or variable words. For example, the query "artificial intelligence" AND education AND * will return results that contain artificial intelligence and education, as well as any other word.

5 Search engines and databases

Finally, to refine your academic research, you can make use of specialized or tailored search engines and databases that are specific to your field or discipline. These can help you find more reliable and credible sources that are not easily accessible on the web. For example, if you are researching history, you can use Google Scholar for scholarly literature from various sources, JSTOR for full-text articles and books from various disciplines, and WorldCat for catalogs of collections of libraries around the world. You can discover more search engines and databases for your field or discipline by consulting your library, your instructor, or your peers.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?