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Research Hacks: Plan Your Search

Learn the best tips and tricks for finding exactly what you need online.

Plan Your Search

Understand the Assignment

Read your assignment carefully.  If you have any questions about the instructions, ask your professor.  Don't wait until it's too late!

  • Is there a required number of sources or source types?
  • Were you instructed to use any specific books, journals, websites, or databases in your research?

Choose Your Topic

If you have a choice, you should always pick a topic that interests you.  If you need ideas, you can:

  • Browse magazines or online articles in different subject areas for current and interesting topics.  Try searching some broad topics in GALILEO to see what is available.
  • Ask your professor for suggestions.
  • Brainstorm topics with your classmates.
  • Ask a librarian for assistance.

Brainstorm

Identify Keywords

Before you start searching, you need to brainstorm to identify keywords related to your topic.  Ask yourself these questions:

  • Can I summarize my topic in one sentence?
  • What disciplines or subject areas does my topic involve?
    • For instance, is this topic related to biology, psychology, literature, history, health sciences, etc.?
  • What words are related to my research topic?  Try to think of synonyms, related topics, people, places, organizations, events, expert terminology.
    • This is a good time to use Google to find related concepts.
    • Avoid vague keywords like effect, benefit, cause, impact.  Those probably won't add helpful results to your search.

Pick 3-5 keywords that summarize your topic.  These will be your starting search terms.

Review the following examples and breakdown your research question into keywords:

Research Question Keywords Tip
What are the causes of homelessness in America?

Homelessness
America

Don't use "soft words" like:
Cause
Effect
Impact
Benefit
How has rising college tuition impacted students?

College
Tuition
Students

 You may start to discover new terms and phrases:
"Tuition increase"
"College costs"
"Graduation rates"
Do cellphones cause brain cancer?

Cellphone
"Brain cancer"

Think of synonyms:
"mobile phone"
"smartphone"
"cellular phone"

Consider broadening some terms, like:
Cancer
How does the WWF gain support for programming? WWF
Programming		 Spell out acronyms to ensure accuracy:
"World Wildlife Fund"
(not to be confused with)
"World Wrestling Federation"

Writing Your Research Question

Reminder

REMEMBER: Do NOT search your full research question or thesis statement in a library database.  You will not get good results.