Starting Your Research
Reference books or eBooks are a good place to start your research on the fad diet you're studying because they contain a lot of information about a topic in one place. Finding background information first will help you identify important ideas and keywords to help you continue your research.
Start with a broad search, like the name of the diet.
Search Strategies
After you've done your background research, try an article databases to find scholarly peer-reviewed sources.
These search strategies can help you in any database you use.
Using the right keywords can affect how relevant your results are. Start with your main ideas, then add or revise using keywords as you encounter new ones.
Fad diet: Atkins
Keywords identified during pre-research: low carbohydrate, Robert Atkins, carbohydrate restriction, metabolism, cholesterol
- Search with specific keywords (not questions or long phrases).
- Search 2-3 keywords at a time. Each keyword you add will reduce your results.
- Use quotation marks around words you want to search as a complete phrase ("fat burning").
- 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.
- 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.
Types of Keywords
Keywords fall into three main categories: Broad, Narrow, and Related.
- Broad: More general categories (diets)
- Narrow: A specific category (Atkins, low carbohydrate)
- Related: Synonyms or similar terms, or terms that are connected to your topic (metabolism, cholesterol)
Here are some possible general keyword combinations
- weight loss programs and effectiveness
- diet pills and effectiveness
- fad diets and health
- obesity surgery and evaluation
- [name of diet] and health effects
- low carbohydrate diet and health effects
- diets for weight loss and evaluation
