Searching the Literature: Refining the Search

Searching the literature is a time consuming and iterative process, you may need to run searches several times before you find what you need.

Evaluate what you have found, ask;

• Did you find the information you were looking for? Is it relevant?​

• Did you find too many results or not enough?

• Is there anything missing?​

If you answer no or not sure to any of the above, you may need to adapt the search.​

Most databases provide options which enable you to limit or refine your search results. The most common limits include:

• publication date range
• publication types
• languages

• Check your keywords; you may need to add or use broader keywords.
• Are there synonyms/additional keywords you could add using OR.
• Try using some advanced search techniques such as truncation to find word variations.

• Do you need to search another resource? Use the Subject Guides to find additional databases.

• Check your keywords you may need to remove or use more specific keyword.
• Add another set of keywords using AND.
• Try using some advanced search techniques such as phrase and proximity searching.
•  Use the databases filters e.g. publication years, limit to the last 10 or 5 years and see if that makes a difference.