A search strategy is an organised structure of key terms used to search a database. The search strategy combines the key concepts of your search question in order to retrieve accurate results.
Your search strategy will account for all:
Each database works differently so you need to adapt your search strategy for each database. You may wish to develop a number of separate search strategies if your research covers several different areas.
It is a good idea to test your strategies and refine them after you have reviewed the search results.
Concepts can be expressed in different ways eg “self-esteem” might be referred to as “self-worth”. Your aim is to consider each of your concepts and come up with a list of the different ways they could be expressed.
To find alternative keywords or phrases for your concepts try the following:
When you've done this, you should have lists of words and phrases for each concept