Keywords
Identify your key concepts and related terms.
- Example: I am interested in what ecosystem services pollinators provide.
Locate Databases
Select appropriate search tools and/or sites.
Search Strategies
Construct a search. Start with keyword searching. Could be simple or using AND/Or (Boolean Operators). Join similar terms with OR. Join dissimilar terms with AND
- "ecosystem services" AND (pollinators OR pollination)
Search for variations of a word using a truncation symbol (*) at the end of the terms.
- e.g. pollinat* will search for pollinator, pollinators, pollination etc.
Look for a phrase, using quotation marks " ".
- e.g. "ecosystem services" / "habitat diversity"
Review
Skim citation and abstract information to determine the usefulness of the source.
- Viewing an introduction or conclusion can be helpful too.
- Sometimes a snippet in available on the results lists.
- You may have to click on the article titles, or click on a preview to see the abstract.
Reflect
Revise search as needed. Too many or too few results? Is this a suitable search tool? Am I retrieving relevant results?
- "ecosystem services" AND (pollinators OR pollination) AND (honeybees OR "honey bees")
Leverage Database Functionality
Consider searching for certain terms in specific fields. e.g. Title field
- honeybees OR "honey bees" (Title) AND "habitat diversity" (All Fields)
Use options to Limit or Refine e.g. by Date or Document type (original research articles, review articles ...)
- e.g. Science Direct > Advanced Search > Journals tab > has a Limit by Document Type section
Find a highly relevant article and look for "Related Articles".
- e.g. on full record in Science Direct, see "Related Articles" box at right
Leverage a Source
View bibliographies for references to other resources or organizations. Search for the known item or known organization.
- e.g. I found a references in an article to this citation: Kremen, C., N. M. Williams, R. L. Bugg, J. P. Fay, and R. W. Thorp. 2004. The area requirements of an ecosystem service: Crop pollination by native bee communities in California. Ecology Letters 7:1109–1119.