Criminology Sources: Develop a Search Strategy

Use keywords and synonyms:

• Start by taking keywords directly from your thesis statement.
• Use synonyms and related concepts by thinking of other words that mean the same thing as the keywords in your question.

                     Global warming OR climate change OR greenhouse effect

                     Gun control OR gun legislation

                     Capital punishment OR death penalty

Try different combinations of keywords:

       If you get too many results (for example, in a Google search), add more words to your search; if you get too few results (for example when searching for books), use fewer keywords. 

Use truncation:

       You can broaden your search results by typing an asterisk symbol  *  at end of the root of a word.

       When you do this, the computer will  search for alternative endings for the word you have typed.

                    For example ​play* yields results for: 

                                                 plays       played       player(s)       playing      playful

Check the "Full Text" box to ensure you are getting the entire article.           

 Read the abstract:

       The abstract is a short summary of the article. Read it to decide if the article addresses your topic.

Look at the subject terms in your search results and see if you can use any of those.

Search Strategy Builder - An online tool from the University of Arizona that will help you organize your keywords into a search strategy