Keywords are the search terms that you type into the search box(s) in an online database or search engine.
- Look at the research question, underline the important words or phrases. These are keywords.
- Brainstorm what you already know about the topic:
- Is there accepted (expert) terminology for the topic?
- Are there any synonyms for the topic? (Use a thesaurus)
- Are there any specific words or technical terminology for the topic?
- Are there other common words for the topic?
- Look in an encyclopedia index or in the index of a book about the topic to find more keywords.
Search using combinations of keywords by using Boolean operators.
