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How to Search the Literature (Advanced)

This guide offers an eight step approach from identifying your topic to managing your search strategy and results

Identify Search Terms

The foundation of any search strategy is terms. Your strategy should include both Subject Headings and Keywords.

 

Subject Headings

  • A standardized set of terms (controlled vocabulary) used to describe content in a database. This process is called indexing.
  • Example: In Ovid Medline, the subject heading for tumour, cancer, or neoplasm is Neoplasms.
    Searching for Neoplasms retrieves all articles indexed under these terms.
  • Subject headings vary by database which means search strategies must be customized for each database.
    • Ovid Medline / PubMed → MeSH
    • Ovid Embase → Emtree
    • CINAHL → CINAHL Headings

Keywords

  • Words that appear in the resource (e.g., title, abstract, author keywords).
  • Useful for capturing:
    • Articles not yet indexed
    • Articles incorrectly indexed articles
How to Identify Subject Headings and Keywords
 
  1. Search for a known article in a database (e.g., PubMed)
    • Click on Publication Type, MeSH terms to display the subject headings
    • Scan the title, abstract, and author keywords 

       
  2. Create a concept map
    • Write your research topic or question, along with any ideas and concepts associated with it on blank sheet of paper.
    • Group themes and connect related concepts.
      Remember to include the following:
      • synonyms 
      • acronyms
      • brand names and generic names
      • variation in spelling (e.g. paediatric or pediatric)
         
  3. Search each keyword in a database (e.g. Ovid Medline).
    • This will allow you to identify additional subject headings.
    • E.g., A search for lateral elbow yields the subject heading Tennis Elbow.

Note: Not all search terms map to a subject heading. If no match exists, search as a keyword. This option is available after the list of subject headings in most databases.