Start with your research question

Once you know what you want to investigate, it is time to formulate your topic into a research question. A clear question makes it easier to determine whether the material you find is relevant or not. You can read more about formulating problem, aim and research questions in another section of the search and write guide:

Problem, aim and research questions

This short video, made by Umeå University Library, shows how you can choose search terms to your research question and put them in groups.

Video: Put your search terms into groups (1:29)

Finding search terms

Once you have defined your research question, it is time to choose search terms. Search terms/keywords are simply the words you use in different search tools. They are terms that describe the content in different publications and can be compared to how tags are used in social media. The terms you choose affect your search results, they should be broad enough to cover your query, but also specific enough to reduce irrelevant hits. Below we list several tips that can help you find relevant keywords.

Synonyms and alternative keywords
Different authors can sometimes use different words for the same thing. To make sure you don't miss out on relevant hits when searching, consider the following:

Use synonyms and alternative words. Antonyms can also sometimes be useful, for example, instead of ecology you can search for environmental degradation.
Use both scientific and Swedish/English names for plants and animals.
Use multiple words for age and gender for animal species, including both singular and plural forms.
Note the differences in British and American spelling, most English language databases contain both variants. For example sulphur/sulfur, colour/color.

Find search terms
In the beginning of the search process, it is good to be creative and list many different alternative search terms. Once you start doing your searches, you will notice which words give relevant results. Here are some more options that can help you finding relevant search terms:

Wikipedia
Google
iate.europa.eu (EU terminology)
Dictionaries and encyclopedias Dictionaries accessable through the library
Lectures
Course books
Literature lists
Supervisor
Articles keywords (sometimes called descriptors). Below is an example of an article with keywords.