Importance of keywords
It is important to plan a search strategy before beginning your research. This will help you decide what you want to find and will save you time.
Start by writing down your topic or area of interest.
Then, to get the most out of your search, you will need to pick out the main parts of your topic or question - identifying the specific keywords and short phrases which will be the most useful to you.
You will then need to think of synonyms (alternative terms) for the keywords/short phrases, to ensure you don't miss important resources.
This is because authors and researchers may have described the same topic using different terminology. What one author may refer to as "domestic abuse" another may refer to as "intimate partner violence" and you might be interested in reading both articles on the topic.
Key concepts
Firstly, split your phrase or question into its key concepts. Think - what are the main parts of the question you are interested in (ignoring any stop words)?
Then, identify as many synonyms (alternative keywords or words with similar meanings) as you can for each of those key concepts.
Example:
Topic: What are the effects of viral marketing on teenagers buying habits
Main keywords:
- viral marketing
- teenager(s)
- buying
Alternative keywords (synonyms):
- viral marketing: guerrilla marketing, stealth marketing
- teenager(s): teen(s), adolescent, adolescence, young people, young person, youth, juvenile
- buying: spending, purchasing
Searching:
You can then use these keywords to build up an effective search in an online database.
If we only used the keywords from the question (viral marketing, teenager and buying) in our search we would get around 170 results in Discovery!
Search: (viral marketing) AND (teenager) AND (buying)
However, if we use the alternative keywords we have identified on the topic as well, we get over 1400 results in Discovery!
See the searching for literature guide below for more information on searching - it also includes an interactive tutorial.
advanced searching:
For more advanced searching support, see the guides below. The LibGuides contain videos and written guidance.
top tips
Sometimes it is hard to think of alternative keywords. So, here are some tips if you are struggling to think of any synonyms for your topic.
You can:
- use a textbook to get an overview of your subject
- use a dictionary or encyclopaedia for a definition of your key concept (see below for some online examples)
- consult a thesaurus (see below for some online examples)
- look at relevant, reliable online resources on the topic (e.g. government websites, NHS resources, academic sites)
- check references you already have - what terms have they used to describe your topic
- describe your topic aloud to someone else – it can help you think of synonyms
Sometimes it is worth looking at the appendices of existing systematic reviews to see what keywords they have suggested for similar topics.
- The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) is one of the databases listed within the Cochrane Library and is the leading resource for systematic reviews in health care - https://www.cochranelibrary.com/advanced-search.
- The Campbell Collaboration is an international social science research network that produces systematic reviews. Subject coverage includes: Business and management; Crime and justice; Disability; Education; International development; Knowledge translation and implementation; Methods; Nutrition; and Social welfare - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/18911803
example - see the terms for bullying in this search strategy
(Taken from: Gillen P.A. et al. (2017) 'Interventions for prevention of bullying in the workplace', Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 1, CD009778. Available at: https://doi-org.ezproxy.tees.ac.uk/10.1002/14651858.CD009778.pub2
online Resources
Thesauri:
A thesaurus can be helpful for generating synonyms and there are some useful online resources to look at for some different subject areas:
Dictionaries:
Dictionaries can be helpful for finding definitions for your topic.
Useful Websites:
Sometimes you can get ideas for keywords from relevant, reliable and freely available websites.
Ovid have created a webpage which shares some expert searches in a range of research areas:
WordHippo is a free online tool which can help you to think of alternative keywords/synonyms:
Scoping searches
Finding the most effective keywords for your search usually requires some trial and error, but you can do ‘scoping’ searches to see which keywords are the best at returning relevant results. You can continue to add to your list of keywords as you find out more about your topic.
Go back to the Searching section of this guide for more information on the searching process, or access Discovery, or the subject databases, via the buttons below.
subject support
To help get you started, using the tips mentioned above, we've created a list of some common topics in the subject areas, and then suggested some potentially useful keywords.
These suggestions are by no means exhaustive and you also don't need to use them all. If you would like to use some of the suggested terms, you will need to decided which are the most useful for you.
You might also want to apply some advanced searching techniques to some of the keywords. For more information on this, see the Advanced Searching section of this guide.
SOCIAL SCIENCES, HUMANITIES AND LAW
Children:
Baby, babies, child, children, early years, infant, pediatric, paediatric, preschool, pre-school, toddler, young person, young people
Domestic Abuse:
Domestic abuse, domestic aggression, domestic assault, domestic violence, intimate abuse, intimate assault, intimate violence, marital abuse, marital aggression, martial assault, marital violence, partner abuse, partner aggression, partner assault, partner violence, spouse abuse, spouse aggression, spouse assault., spouse violence.
Education:
College, doctorate, early years, elementary, foundation stage, high school, junior high, key Stage 0-5, kindergarten, KS 0-5, middle school, nursery, postgraduate, pre-kindergarten, pre-k, pre-school, preschool, primary school, primary education, secondary education, secondary school, sixth form, trauma informed practice, undergraduate, university.
Learning difficulty:
ADHD, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, Asperger Syndrome, Asperger's, autistic, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, learning difficulty, special needs, specific needs.
Learning disability:
Down's Syndrome, intellectual disability, intellectual impairment, learning disability, profound and multiple learning disability, PMLD.
Outdoor play:
Adventure play, forest school, gardening, jungle gym, outdoor activities, outdoor education, outdoor games, outdoor learning, outdoor play, outside play, outdoor recreation, park activities, playground, playing field, wilderness activities.
Psychology:
Behaviour/behaviour, cognitive, conscious, human mind, mood, psychiatric, psychological, psychologist, psychology, psycho-social/psychosocial, sub-conscious.
health and life sciences
Adaptive Sports:
Adaptive activity, adaptive athletics, adaptive sport, para-activity, para-athletics, para-sport, parasport, wheelchair activities, wheelchair athletics, wheelchair sport.
Animal Science and Welfare:
Agriculture, animal and plant physiology, animal behaviour, animal cognition, animal health, animal husbandry, animal management, animal nutrition, animal welfare, ecology, environmental enrichment, Mendelian genetics, population biology, ration formulation, variation.
Biosciences:
Amino acids, bacteria, biochemistry, bioinformatics, biologics, biotherapeutics, carbohydrates,downstream processing, fermentation, functional genomics, fungi, infectious diseases, lipids, microarrays, molecular biology, nucleic acids, proteins, protozoa, sequencing, viruses.
Cancer:
Cancer, cancerous, carcinoma, neoplasm, oncology, melanoma, malignancy, tumor, tumour.
Cancer Screening:
Breast screening, cancer detection, cancer screening, cancer scan, cancer x-ray, cancer xray, cancer prevent, cervical screening, cervical smear, cytology cervix, cytobrush cervix, mammogram, mammography, pap smear, pap test, smear test, tumor detect, tumour detect, tumor screening, tumour screening, vaginal smear.
Chemistry:
Analytical chemistry, analytical instrumentation, asymmetric synthesis, carbenes, chromatography, computational chemistry, fragmentation, kinetics, laboratory, physical chemistry, reaction mechanisms, rearrangement, spectroscopy.
Covid-19:
Coronavirus, Corona-virus, Covid, pandemic, SARS-COV, SARS-COV-2, Sarscov, Sarscov2, Sars-coronavirus, 2019-ncov.
Crime Scene and Forensic science:
Blood spatter, crime Scene, crime scene photography, digital imaging, DNA, enforcement, evidence, fingerprints, fire investigation, footwear, forensic, forensic science, investigations, organised crime, recovery, scene recording, trace evidence.
Dental:
Caries, cavities, dental, dentist, dentistry, extractions, fillings, mouthcare, mouth care, mouth hygiene, oral care, oral health, oral hygiene, teeth, tooth.
Dose Reduction:
Dose index, dose reduction, dose reduce, limit dose, limit dosage, limit exposure, limit radiation, minimise dose, minimise dosage, minimise exposure, reduce exposure, reduce radiation.
Food Science:
Chemical analysis, dietary analysis, food, food chemistry, food components, food processing, food safety, food spoilage, food science, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP), healthy diet, nutrition, nutritional science, shelf life testing, texture analysis.
Geography and Environment:
Animals, biodiversity, cartography, climate change, coasts, conservation, ecosystem, environmental management, environmental science, fieldwork, fungi, Geographical Information Systems, geospatial analysis, geovisualisation, GIScience, microorganism, plants, rivers, sustainability.
Induction of Labour:
Amniotomy, artificially break waters, artificial rupture of membranes, AROM, induce labour, induce labor, intravenous oxytocin, intravenous Pitocin, IV oxytocin, IV Pitocin, labour induction, labor induction, waters artificially broken.
Mental Health:
Anxiety, bipolar, depression, mental health, mental illness, psychiatric, psychoses, psychosis, psychotic, PTSD, schizophrenic, stress.
Occupational Identity:
Activities of daily living, daily life, identity, life story, relationships, routine, self concept, self efficacy, self evaluation, self image, self perception, self regard, self respect, self value, sense of self.
Outdoor Therapy:
Note: we have split this phrase into two parts and have used AND to combine them together.
Adventure, allotment, bush, countryside, floriculture, forest, garden, greenspace, green space, hike, hiking, horticulture, kayak, nature, outback, out back, outdoor, outside, out-side, playground, topiary, walking, wilderness, wood AND therapy, intervention, strategy, program.
Physical Disability:
Amputee, arthritis, cerebral palsy, mobility disability, mobility impaired, multiple sclerosis, musculoskeletal disorders, osteoarthritis, paraplegic, physical disability, physical dysfunction, physical impairment, spastic quadriplegic, spinal cord injury, quadriplegic.
Pregnancy:
Antenatal, ante-natal, expectant mother, pregnancy, pregnant, prenatal, pre-natal, prebirth, pre-birth, perinatal, peri-natal, postnatal, post-natal.
Pre-hospital:
Aeromedical, ambulance, emergency medical services, EMS, emergency medical technician, EMT, Helicopter, HEMS, out of hospital, paramedic, paramedicine, pre-hospital, prehospital, 999
Radiography / Radiology:
Computer tomography, CT Scan, magnetic resonance imaging, MRI, radiograph, radiographer, radiography, radiologist, radiology, sonogram, sonography, ultrasound, X-Ray, Xray.
Business
Corporate responsibility:
Corporate accountability, corporate citizenship, corporate social accountability, corporate social responsibility.
Leadership:
Board of directors, directors, executive, leader, leadership, management, manager, managerial.
Marketing:
Advertising, branding, consumer goods, company identity, logo, marketing, market research, pricing, products, promoting, sales, selling
Sustainability:
Conservation, environment, environmental policy, green development, green infrastructure, green initiatives, renewable energy, renewables.
computing, engineering and Digital technologies
Civil Engineering:
BIM, building information modeling, construction, contract law, digital design, geotechnology, hydraulics, hydrology, materials, mathematics, project management, structural analysis, structural mechanics, supply chain, surveying, sustainable construction, wastewater, water engineering.
Gamification:
Augmented reality, avatar, chat bot, chatbot, digital game, gaming, game console, gamification, Nintendo, Playstation, Play station, video game, videogame, virtual reality, VR, Xbox, X-box, Wii.
Mechanical Engineering:
Aerospace, applied mechanics, automotive, composites, Computer Aided Design, CAD, manufacturing, mechanical engineering, mechatronics, production technology, robotics, thermodynamics.
Mobile applications:
Android, apple phone, app, apps, cellphone, cell-phone, handheld computer, hand-held computer, hand-held device, handheld device, ios, iPad, i-pad, iphone, i-phone, , mobile application, mobile device, mobile phone, personal computer, personal device, phone application, pocket-size computer, pocket-size device, Samsung, smart-phone, smartphone, tablet, tablet computer, tablet device, windows phone.
Social media:
Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Snap chat, social media, social network, Twitter, YouTube, You tube.
Arts and creative industries
Creativity:
Artistic, awareness, create, creative, design, developmental, discovery, fluency, ideas, imagination, innovation, insight, inspiration, intelligence, investigations, knowledge, motivation, novelty, openness, originality, positive, research, searching, solving, thinking, vision.
Fashion:
Clothing, costume exhibits, designers, fabrics, fibres, garment industry, haute couture, models, stylist, textiles, trend, Vogue.
Fine Art:
Applied arts, artist, exhibition, performance, visual arts.
Marketing:
Advertising, branding, consumer goods, company identity, logo, marketing, market research, pricing, products, promoting, sales, selling
Social media:
Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Snap chat, social media, social network, Twitter, YouTube, You tube.
Sustainable fashion:
Biodegradable, carbon footprint, carbon neutral, circular fashion, cost-per-wear, cruelty-free, diversity, eco-friendly fashion, ethical fashion, Fairtrade, fast fashion, greenwashing, inclusivity, minimalism, organic, recycling, second-hand, slow fashion, supply chain, sustainability, sustainable fashion, traceability, transparency, upcycling, vegan.