POLS 2901/SOC 291: Research Methods

 Use these search tips in any catalog or database.

Use AND in your search to:

• Narrow down your results
• Find sources that have ALL of your search terms

Example:  gender AND voting

*The green space represents the results for this search

Use OR in your search to:

• Connect 2 or more similar terms (synonyms)
• Broaden your results (so that your results have EITHER term)

Example:  climate change OR global warming

*The green space represents the results for this search

Use NOT in your search to:

• Exclude a word from your search
• Narrow down your results, telling the system not to include any results with that term

Example:  women AND voting NOT United States

*  Add an asterisk onto the root of a word to find results that use all variations of that word.

Example:  democra* = democrat, democratic, democracy

"..."  Place quotation marks around search terms or a search phrase to search for that exact phrase.

Example:  "gender gap"

(...)  Use parentheses to nest similar terms or to ensure the database will search your terms in the correct order.

Example:  youth AND (climate change OR global warming)