... Expand and limit

In devise search terms, you have seen that each search query consists of more components, and you have created a set of appropriate search terms for each component.
Adding components (with AND) usually makes your results more relevant, while adding synonyms and related terms (with OR) makes you find more relevant results. This can have a big effect on your results.

Example from Web of Science

Search Terms Results
food AND elderly 5,125

food AND elderly AND "well-being"
162
eating AND elderly AND social 172
(food OR eating) AND (elderly OR dementia) AND ("well being" OR "quality of life" OR social) 583

 

As you can see, a lot of combinations are possible. In practice, it will always be a matter of trying out what works and what does not. Therefore, take a critical look at your results and adjust your search query accordingly.


Expanding search terms

You simply start by typing in one search term. Chances are you will get too many results, many of which are also irrelevant. By adding a second search term, you are already searching more specifically. Keep doing this until you get to a point where the result list looks good at first glance. Then, if it turns out that you have very few articles, see which components it makes sense to add synonyms and related search terms.

Limiting search terms

This search method works the other way around. You start with a large number of search terms that you think should all appear in your search results. You put them all sequentially in the search window. Then look at your results to see if there are any words among them that cause a lot of noise and remove them. If you have very few results, you can also consider not using all the components.

Search History

A fine tool for expanding and narrowing search terms is search history. Using the search history, you can build a search query step-by-step by first working out the individual components and then starting to see what combinations yield.

Example PsycINFO

 

Search History in PsycINFO

 

If you don't see a search history feature, check the help file for the particular database. Keep in mind that not all databases have a search history feature.