Find search terms
To search efficiently and find the information you need, it's crucial to spend some time selecting relevant keywords to use in your search. While this may sound straightforward, it's often more complex than it appears. We're all accustomed to searching on Google using the terms that feel most intuitive, but when searching in a bibliographic database, that approach may not be enough. Many concepts have synonyms or alternative terms, and including them in your search is essential to avoid missing relevant content. Unlike a human, the database doesn't interpret your intent; it only retrieves sources that contain the exact words you use. For instance, if you search for "electric car," it won't find articles that use the term "electric automobile." Watch this video to learn more about selecting keywords.
View video with transcript in KTH Play
Essentials of finding search terms
To find search terms, you can go through these steps:
- identify key concepts that can be useful to find literature about the topic
- add synonyms and related terms
- check Wikipedia and title, abstract and keywords from relevant scientific articles for more terms
- group terms that are connected to the same key concept together
- remove redundant terms, for example phrases if you also include a single word that is part of the phrase