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PBIO 133: How Plants Can Save the World - Hill (Fall 2022)

Searching for Articles

Scholarly article databases don't understand natural language the way every day search engines might be able to. For that reason, we have to be intentional and strategic about our keyword selection and searching.

Advanced Search Techniques

  • Truncation: Use truncation to search multiple forms of a word with the same root. This also works to include the singular and the plural of a word. For example:
    • dam* = dam, dams
    • intestin* = intestine, intestines, intestinal
    • paleo* = paleo, paleolithic
       
  • Phrases: Use quotation marks to search for phrases when you want to make sure the words you search for are next to each other. This is particularly helpful for common words that mean something different when they are a phrase. For example:
    • land use vs. "land use"
    • clean eating vs. "clean eating"
    • water kefir vs. "water kefir"

AND/OR

Once you have thought of some alternate terms that mean the same or similar things, you can combine them with OR to conduct a search that brings back any one of those words. For example:

  • cat* OR kitten* OR feline*
  • dog* OR pupp* OR canine*
  • kefir OR kombucha
  • gut OR intestin* OR microbiome

If you use the multiple search boxes, it will automatically combine them with the word AND. This means you must have both terms. Here is an example of combining the two in a database's search box:

A screenshot of the following sample database search: (microplastic* OR microfib*) AND (textile* OR apparel OR fabric* OR clothing).

The above search will bring back articles that have one of the words microplastic(s) OR microfiber/microfibre(s). In addition, each article will have to have at least one of the following words: textile(s), apparel, fabric(s), or clothing. There can be any combination between these two groups, but there has to be one term from each.

Keyword Table

Tutorials