3. Strategies for more inclusive and critical searching

Check the boxes below to maximize your search results

Each search engine and database works differently. Therefore, always check the quick reference or help section of the search engine or database for instructions on which operators etc. to use. Compare for instance Web of Science and the subject-specific database PhilPapers (Philosophy). If you don't use operators between keywords, Web of Science will by default add AND in between, but Philpapers will add an OR, which leads to much more results. Moreover, Philpapers works with symbols (&, |) instead of AND, OR.

Use synonyms of your keywords to maximize your search results. Connect your synonyms with the operator OR. E.g., the search string "Byzantine AND philosophy AND soul" leads to less results than "Byzantine AND (philosophy OR thought OR theology) AND soul".

Depending on which search engine or database you use, you can use different wildcards to maximize your search results. For instance, in Web of Science:

• The asterisk (*) represents any group of (or no) characters (e.g. liturg* searches for liturgy, liturgies, liturgical etc.).
• The question mark (?) represents any single character (e.g., organi?ation searches for organization and organisation).
• The dollar sign ($) represents zero or one character (e.g., religion$ searches for religion and religions).
• No search engine or database contains all publications. Always combine several search tools!