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It is helpful to strategize your search before you start searching.
This worksheet can help you think about your topic, develop a research question, and brainstorm possible search terms.
Search Tips:
When searching in a database, spelling matters!
Unlike search engines, a database will not correct your typos and spelling mistakes.
If you get zero results, first check that you spelled your keywords correctly.
Use quotation marks for phrase searching
If you are searching for multiple words or a phrase, like cell membrane, put those words within a set of quotation marks in the search box.
If you search cell membrane, instead of "cell membrane" most databases will search cell and membrane as separate keywords
Use truncation to search for various endings
aka “wildcards” - often a * at the end of a word (check the database)
Use in place of letters - environ* for environment, environmental, environmentalist, etc.
Other factors:
Plural and singular nouns usually do not matter.
Capitalization usually does not matter.
Spaces between letters or words might matter.
Especially in acronyms or the names of medication or viruses or molecules or organisms
Bowerbird vs “Bower Bird” both are valid terms and return results in databases
Comprehensive coverage of chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacology, biotechnology, environmental science, toxicology, and medicine worldwide. Searching by chemical structure available.
Requires one-time registration
Comprehensive collection of international journals, conference proceedings, and other scholarly literature, with a primary focus on STEM and social sciences. Article references are included in the record. Search by author, affiliation, topic and more, and search to see who cited a particular article.
Resources
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Infographics
Wellesley supports EndNote and Zotero, which are programs that will help you organize your references and create bibliographies in hundreds of citation styles (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, etc.). Both can be downloaded to your computer, or used in website versions. To learn more about these tools, consult our guides below:
