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Political Science Research Guide

Keywords and Database Search Strategies

These search strategies can help you in any database you use.

Using the right keywords can affect how relevant your results are.

Keywords fall into three main categories: Broad, Narrow, and Related.
  • Broad: More general categories (example: uprising)
  • Narrow: A specific category (example: social uprising, or more specific like the events of Arab Spring beginning in 2010)
  • Related: Synonyms or similar terms, or terms that are connected to your topic (example: social unrest, social upheaval, social revolution, economy, protests, culture, class structures, political transformation, social conflict)

Use the database's Advanced Search feature to combine keywords. Start with the main ideas in your thesis statement. Add or revise using new keywords as you find them.

  1. Search with specific keywords (not questions or long phrases).
  2. Search 2-3 keywords at a time. Each keyword you add will reduce your results.
  3. Use quotation marks around words you want to search as a complete phrase ("Arab Spring").
  4. Limiters: always use the Full Text limiter. Use the Peer Reviewed limiter if that is the kind of information you need. You can also adjust the date range to get the most current articles.
  5. Number of results: Strive for no more than 200 hundred results. If you have more than that, try revising your search. You want a list of results that is manageable so you can look through them all.

Boolean Operators: AND, OR, NOT

  • AND: for combining unrelated search terms ("social uprising" AND "class structures")
  • OR: for searching similar words ("social uprising" OR "social unrest")
  • NOT: for eliminating results ("social unrest" NOT riots)

Working With Your Sources

All of our databases have options for citing the source and saving it. They also have a variety of accessibility options. The following example is an article found in the database Global Issues. 

Example article that uses arrows to point at the citation tool, print tool, save options, and accessibility options for changing the language, font size, color, font, or text spacing.

 

Article citation, Chicago 17th ed.:

Oluwatayo, I. (2024). The Right to Food: A Fundamental Human Right and Its Imperatives. African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, 24(10), 1+. http://dx.doi.org/10.18697/ajfand.135.ED147