Articles have smaller scopes than books and are about more specific topics. Some instructions for searching most databases for articles are included on this page. For searching JSTOR, please see that page in this guide.
A database is searched by creating a search query. A search query should be made up of search terms chosen from your research question.
Example research question: How did the introduction of modern high schools in the United States affect the social lives of girls?
Possible search terms: high school, United States, girls, social lives (I would likely also want to define this search by time period - 1920s.)
Not all search terms have to be included in every search.
When I create my search terms, I can broaden or narrow my search depending on what I am looking for and what search results I get. I can also search by synonyms or the same term from a different perspective.
| Original term | Broader term | Narrower term | Synonyms |
| High School | public schools | private high schools | secondary school |
| United States | North America | New York | |
| Girls | adolescents | Black girls | women, adolescent women, female children |
You can turn your research question into search terms. This is a good way to make sure that you are looking for resources that relate to your paper's scope and topic.
Identify the important words or terms in your research question. These are more likely to be the nouns that you use to specify the scope of your topic.
Write out each important word/term as it appears in your research question. Next to the term, list synonyms. You can also search words that mean the same thing.
You can use our digital search term worksheet to turn your research question into search terms.
When you find an article you like, look at that article's keywords. These are the words the database attaches to the article. They are usually written underneath the article's listing in your search results.
Different databases use different keywords. By reusing the keywords that the database likes, you are learning to speak that database's "language".
Some databases will give you suggestions for search terms when you start typing in a search term textbox. You can select those suggestions if you want. Of course, you can always type out your own text to search, but these suggestions are terms that the database absolutely recognizes.
Often, the suggestions will be several terms in the same box, all separated by or. This means that the search engine will search for all those terms at once.
Always check before you select a string of terms. Some of the terms might not be equivalent for your research topic!