There are several reasons why a search may not turn up very many results.

possible reason for few results	solution
choosing a topic that is too narrow	broaden your topic
not using the best search terms	develop new search terms
using search operators (ex.: AND, OR) improperly	use search operators correctly
searching the wrong database	select a better database
researching an extremely current topic	find out what is likely to be available
getting stuck on one particular word or phrase to describe your topic	be flexible with your research vocabulary

 

Broadening your topic

If your topic is too specific, you may find very few articles or books about it. Consider broadening it by generalizing to get more results. For example, if "facial symmetry and attractiveness" is your topic, you could expand your search to "physical attractiveness or beauty."

Developing Search Terms

• Often the words we use to describe our research topics are not the only words authors use to discuss the topic. Think of all the different ways your topic or concept can be discussed. For example, research on high school students may also be covered under research on teenagers or adolescents.
• If you are doing research on a historical topic, think about how people talked about it at the time. For example, if your topic is feminism in the 1960's you might want to look for women's liberation.
• If you can find at least one good article on your topic, you can generally use that article to determine additional search terms. See how the author talks about the topic. Additionally, there may be a bibliography that lists other articles related to your topic.

Using Search Operators Correctly

When should I use "AND" in a search?

• Use the AND operator to connect two or more different concepts.
• Using AND narrows your search, telling the database that ALL search terms must be present in the resulting records.
  
  example search: cloning AND humans AND ethics

When should I use "OR" in a search?

• Use the OR operator to connect two or more similar concepts (synonyms).
• Using OR broadens your search, telling the database that ANY of the search terms can be present in the resulting records.

example search: cloning OR genetics OR reproduction

All three circles represent the result set for this search. It is a big set because any of those words are valid using the OR operator.

Selecting a Better Database

Sometimes the only reason your search is not returning enough results is that you are not using the best database. Maybe you are looking in a database like Academic Search Premier that provides general coverage of many subject areas when you should be searching a subject specific database like Education Full Text.

Review the Choosing the Best Database page in this guide for more information about how to select the best database for your topic.

Current Topics -- What is likely to be available

If you are looking for information on a very current topic, remember to think about the publishing or information timeline. For example, while newspapers and websites can put information about an event that happened today up within hours, it will take about 6 months to 2 or 3 years for a scholarly article or book about the event to go from being written through the complete review and publishing process.

See the Information Timeline (pdf) by the library at the California State University - Chico for an idea of what types of resources are available.

Being Flexible with Your Research Vocabulary

Often when we start searching we think we know what the proper search terms are and it can be hard to give them up. But sticking with a particular word or phrase may cause you to get fewer relevant results.

For example, if your topic was "satisfaction with family routines" you may try searching "satisfaction AND family routines" in several databases but get only limited results. This is because researchers in the field currently use "family rituals" to describe the idea of family routines.

Paying attention to how researchers and authors describe your topic in relevant articles and then being flexible with your research vocabulary will improve your searches.

Ask a Librarian

Librarians are used to working with many different kinds of databases and looking for many different topics. They can help you determine where your search is going wrong and which resources to try for more results. If you are not getting enough information, consider stopping by the Research Information Desk at the Addlestone Library or ask a librarian.

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If your search brings back too many irrelevant results, try to narrow it by:

adding additional concepts with "and"

phrase searching

searching subject headings/descriptors

using limits, or an advanced search

Adding additional concepts

In some cases, even searches which seem quite specific can give you thousands of items. To focus your search in the library catalog and the library databases, try adding additional words for the aspect of the topic you're interested in, connected with AND. For example:

Stroop effect (641 items)

Stroop effect AND memory (91 items)

Phrase Searching

If you enter more than one word (without boolean operators such as "AND" or "OR") most databases will look for your words anywhere in the record or even in the full text of the article. This can bring up lots of results that are not relevant to your search. For example, a search for "labor force" as a phrase, will eliminate results that have to do with pregnancy.

Unfortunately, there is no standard way to search for a phrase. Most internet search engines (Google) and most databases including the catalog search everything within "double quotes" as a phrase. Some databases perform a phrase search by default, others use 'single quotes.' The "Help" links within each database will tell you exactly how to do these searches.

Subject Searching

Searching for "words anywhere" a.k.a. key words works best if your topic and terminology are very specific. For general topics or very commonly used words, a Subject search can increase the relevance/richness of your results.

For example, in a Psychology database, "self esteem" will appear thousands of times, but will often be used peripherally. To find research focused on this topic, search for this phrase as a Subject.

Once you've found one good article, try using its subjects (sometimes called Descriptors) to find additional material. In the example below, a Subject search on physical attractiveness AND self-esteem will retrieve articles relating the two concepts.

Using "limits"

Many databases give options for restricting your search to certain types of information. Some of the more common limits to look for are:

• Publication Type - journal articles, books, chapters, etc.
• Scholarly Journals (sometimes called "peer reviewed" or "refereed")
• Language - English only
• Date

In some databases, these options will only appear on an "Advanced" search screen.

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when your results are off topic, it can be difficult to see how to fix the problem

it could be the database

With nearly 200 different library databases available, it can be tricky to find the best database(s) for a particular research project. Check the description and scope (coverage) of the database to make sure that it is the best choice for the topic you are researching.

For example, though the MLA Bibliography is a great source for literary criticism, it is not the best place to find book reviews. Or, a student taking a un upper level Zoology course might go to the database BasicBIOSIS (a basic biology database) not knowing that Zoological Record (a Zoology database) may be the best source.

If you think you need help choosing a database

• consult with a reference librarian to help you find the best databases or
• use the subject guides to find a list of databases tailored to a particular subject or
• review the "choosing the best database" section of this tutorial

It could be your terminology, synonyms can cause problems

pet therapy is a concept frequently used in psychology to describe the therapeutic use of animals. However, PET also stands for positron emission tomography and is also a key word term for psychoeducational therapy and a number of other medical and psychological therapies. Therefore, a search for "pet therapy" can bring up many articles unrelated to the intended topic.

In an effort to combat these kinds of problems, make use of the subject terms/descriptors used by databases to describe and group articles by topic. If you find one article that is on topic, look to see what subject terms or descriptors were assigned to the article. Often times these are "hot linked" and will enable you to quickly carry out a more focused search. In PsychInfo, for example, a search for "pet therapy" brought up an article with Animal Assisted Therapy as a subject. A click on this descriptor or another search for this term as a subject brings up a more rich, focused list of articles.

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