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. Examples:
fairy tales or fairytales
folk tales or folklore or children's literature
Grimm Brothers or Brothers Grimm
child development or child psychology
literature review or literary criticism
theme or motif
Look at the subject terms in your search results and see if you can use any of those.
Try using alternate spellings: Ex. Fairy or faerie
Use truncation:
You can broaden your search results by typing an asterisk symbol * at the 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:
child* children children's childhood
criti* criticism critique critics critical
them* theme(s) thematic
Create parameters:
Limit your topic to a specific author or geographical region.
Ex. Hans Christian Andersen, Grimm Brothers
China, Russia, Europe, Scandinavia, India, Asia
Our databases contain full-text articles from magazines, newspapers, and professional journals.
Information for answering the question: "Are fairy tales good or bad for young children?" can be found in multiple disciplines.
A general database covering many areas of academic study. Find articles from over 7,000 full-text periodicals and abstracts from more than 11,000 additional journals.
