Title: Section 1.1: Developing a search strategy
Course: MSc level academic and professional (information) skills > Section: Part 1. Information skills, Plagiarism and Referencing

Introduction to developing a search strategy

Searching for scientific information can often feel like going around in circles - a lot of trial and error. Having a sound strategy, knowing when and how to adjust your strategy will help to make it more efficient.

But choosing the wrong direction at the start gets your far from your goal! A good search question will provide a good start of the search process.
By framing your assignment you will get focus, also in your discussions with your supervisor. You can only state a good search question when you are familiar with the field of study. A complete search question defines the subject that you are going to search for, as well as the target you want to achieve and the delimitations that you’ve set.

Learning objectives

In this section you learn about the cyclic nature of systematicly searching for information. You will also learn the importance of a good search question and how to formulate one.

After this section you will be able to:

- recognize different steps of a systematic search,
- perform an exploration on your field of study,
- recognize the steps necessary to define your search question and apply these steps to your own search process,
- write a ‘frame’ for your research assignment.

Circular model of systematic searching

Systematic searching is an ongoing circular process. You begin your search for information with your research or central question. Once you've gone through the whole cycle and evaluated your results, you can decide if and how you want to adjust your central question. With those adjustments you can repeat the steps you have taken in the first cycle and evaluate the new results.

Once you are satisfied with the results, your cycle of systematic searching is over and you are ready to process your results.

Bellow you will find an explenation of each step in the cycle of systematicly searching for information.

Research question

Formulating the research question or central question includes deciding on inclusion and exclusion criteria for the results.

Inclusion or exclusion criteria can be:

- Type of information: facts, statistics, scientific, news
- Type of publication: books, articles, websites, patents
- Language
- Actuality
- Geography
Choice of databases

Choosing databases for searching will depend upon your central question and the delimitations. There are databases covering all scientific fields such as Scopus or Web of Science, or more specialized databases such as Business Source elite (business administration and economics) or GeoBase (geosciences). Or you can choose full-text databases, that usually are limited to publications from one publisher such as SpringerLink or IEEE Xplore.
Search terms

In this step you determine the key concepts of your central question and you try to find search terms for each concept. To find good search terms you can use dictionaries, encyclopedias or look for keywords in publications you have already found. Look for synonyms, broader or narrower terms. Sometimes your search terms depend on the database you choose. For example, if you are looking for information on the teaching of chemistry, you would search under 'chemistry' in an educational database, under 'education' in a chemistry database and under 'chemistry AND education' in a general database.
Search profile

Depending on the database you can use different search profiles such as: Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT), wild cards/truncation(*), phrase searching ("..") and others. You can often find information on search profiles in the help section of a database.
Evaluate

You have to evaluate your search profile as well as the concepts of your results. Depending on your evaluation it might be necessary to adjust your profile and to go back one of the previous steps in the cycle.

When you evaluate your results, take into account the inclusion and exclusion criteria you have decided on at the beginning of the cycle.
Document

Document refers to your search itself as well as the results of your search. You need to keep track of your searches for example by using a log. A log should include information about when you did the search, in which databases, the search profile, the number of results and an evaluation of those results with possible changes for the next search.

In your final product (thesis, presentation, paper) you need to document by correctly refering to the literature you found and used.

Frame your research assignment

Usually a student assignment is part of a larger research project. By framing your assignment you will get focus, also in your discussions with your supervisor. In a ‘frame’ you describe the context of your assignment. It helps you to get an overview and to not lose time by getting side-tracked.

Elements of the frame can be:

- why your topic has become important,
- why your topic has become a problem,
- why the current solution does not work anymore,
- and the general direction of the solution.

Provisional search and delimitations

Provisional search

When you are familiar with your search subject and you know the important concepts and their precise meaning, you can formulate a provisional search question.
Now you also have to determine the first search terms for your search. For example use a thesaurus (like MeSH: Medical Subject Headings (Links to an external site.)) or specialized dictionaries. You can find synonyms, more specific terms or just more general ones. If you also have to search for information via classification systems like the International Patent Classification (Links to an external site.), you can quote the relevant classification codes at this stage. Finally, you should search for persons and institutions that could be of use when searching for information. At the beginning of your search (but later as well), they can give you a short review of the field of study and provide you with useful search terms, synonyms, broader or narrower terms and names of famous authors.
You trace the relevant databases for your subject and then skim through them. They give you an indication of the amount of literature that has been published on this subject. You may make notes on this in your personal documentation system.

Assignment
Formulate a provisional search question for your own research project, determine search terms and relevant databases. Do some searches and get an indication of the amount of literature that has been published on this subject.

Delimitation (time, language, document types)

When you have an indication about the amount of information that has been published on your subject it is time to report to your supervisor and decide which delimitations must be made, according to:

- The publication year of the information.
- The language of the information.
- The type of documents (e.g. journal articles, dissertations, books, Internet sites).
- The time you want to spend on your literature search.

Assignment
Report your findings of delimitation of your own search question to your supervisor and decide which delimitations must be made.

Final search question

The final search question can be formulated now, it defines the subject that you are going to search for, the target you want to achieve and the delimitations that you’ve made.
Do not think that a final search question is always final: during the searching and processing/elaboration unexpected circumstances can come up and a new ‘final’ search question must be made. Always consult your supervisor in such a case.

Assignment
Formulate your own final search question, it defines the:

- subject that you are going to search for,
- target you want to achieve,
- delimitations that you’ve made.

TIP: time management and your literature search

A rule of thumb for a good planning is based upon the ‘one-third rule’. This means that for the following three activities, one-third of the total available time will be used:

- collect information,
- process/elaborate information,
- report.

Since the time taken for reporting is often underestimated, lack of time often contributes to panic and stress around completion time.

Assignment: Starting Question

Question

A systematic search for academic literature consists of several steps. Below you have to put those steps in the correct order, starting with step one.

- That's right! The correct answer is: 1: Formulate the research question. 2. Select the databses. 3. Determine the search terms and search profile. 4. Evaluate and Document the results.
- The correct answer is: 1: Formulate the research question. 2. Select the databses. 3. Determine the search terms and search profile. 4. Evaluate and Document the results.
- 1
Feedback: Formulate the research question.
- 2
Feedback: Select the databses.
- 3
Feedback: Determine the search terms and search profile.
- 4
Feedback: Evaluate and Document the results.

MSc_skills_Section 1_Question 1

Put the 4 stages in Defining your search question in the right order of time.

- That's the correct answer
- The correct answer is: 1 - Frame your research assignment (get focus) 2 - Exploration of the field of study 3 - Provisional search and delimitation of time, language, document types 4 - Define final search question (even a ‘final’ search question can change later on)
- 1
Feedback: Frame your research assignment (get focus)
- 2
Feedback: Exploration of the field of study
- 3
Feedback: Provisional search and delimitation of time, language, document types
- 4
Feedback: Define final search question (even a ‘final’ search question can change later on)

MSc_skills_Section 1_Question 2

Exploration with Web of Science.

You want to do an exploratory search, aimed at providing a first overview of your subject.
You start with Web of Science, a database that only contains peer-reviewed articles.
Multiple answers possible.

- Generally speaking this is not wise because articles usually describe a very limited subject.
Feedback: When you’re looking for an overview, you can find basic information in encyclopedias, handbooks and textbooks.
- This is only a wise thing to do if you refine your search to document type ‘review articles’.
Feedback: But only if you know something of this field of study and don’t start at the very beginning. Review articles give an overview, but demand some knowledge of the field.
- This is wise because Web of Science is a very large database, it contains refereed articles for beginners as well.
Feedback: Web of Science does contain refereed scientific articles, but those articles generally describe in detail a very limited subject. Not very suitable for the beginning of your exploration.

MSc_skills_Section 1_Question 3

You only can formulate a good search question when you are familiar with the field of study.

For example: you must know the relevant concepts and their precise meaning. If that is not the case, start with a general exploration. For that purpose you trace relevant reference literature via the library catalogue, such as (specialized) encyclopedias, handbooks and textbooks. You can also use the open Internet at this stage.

It may turn out that during the exploration your subject must be adjusted, restricted or extended.

MSc_skills_Section 1_Question 4

Exploration with Wikipedia.

Is Wikipedia a suitable source when you want to familiarize yourself with a new field of study?

- Yes, Wikipedia is a reliable source.
Feedback: “Mostly yes, but note that reliability is varying, so try to separate facts and opinions” is the right answer. In Wikipedia everyone can contribute content and there is limited quality control. The quality and depth of the items therefore varies considerably. In scientific work a reference to Wikipedia is unacceptable, but for familiarizing yourself with a subject Wikipedia is a suitable source. Try to separate facts and opinions. For facts the quality control of Wikipedia works very well. Research stated that Wikipedia contains less factual mistakes than well-established classic encyclopedias.
- Mostly yes, but note that reliability is varying, so try to separate facts and opinions.
Feedback: In Wikipedia everyone can contribute content and there is limited quality control. The quality and depth of the items therefore varies considerably. In scientific work a reference to Wikipedia is unacceptable, but for familiarizing yourself with a subject Wikipedia is a suitable source. Try to separate facts and opinions. For facts the quality control of Wikipedia works very well. Research stated that Wikipedia contains less factual mistakes than well-established classic encyclopedias.
- No, most of the time Wikipedia offers information that is not reviewed by others.
Feedback: “Mostly yes, but note that reliability is varying, so try to separate facts and opinions” is the right answer. In Wikipedia everyone can contribute content and there is limited quality control. The quality and depth of the items therefore varies considerably. In scientific work a reference to Wikipedia is unacceptable, but for familiarizing yourself with a subject Wikipedia is a suitable source. Try to separate facts and opinions. For facts the quality control of Wikipedia works very well. Research stated that Wikipedia contains less factual mistakes than well-established classic encyclopedias.
- No, sources like Wikipedia do not fit in a scientific environment at all.
Feedback: “Mostly yes, but note that reliability is varying, so try to separate facts and opinions” is the right answer. In Wikipedia everyone can contribute content and there is limited quality control. The quality and depth of the items therefore varies considerably. In scientific work a reference to Wikipedia is unacceptable, but for familiarizing yourself with a subject Wikipedia is a suitable source. Try to separate facts and opinions. For facts the quality control of Wikipedia works very well. Research stated that Wikipedia contains less factual mistakes than well-established classic encyclopedias.

MSc_skills_Section 1_Question 5

Assignment:
If you don’t have an overview of your own research subject, familiarize yourself with it. Learn the important concepts and their precise meaning.

The end of section Developing a search strategy

Here ends the section Developing a search strategy.

In this section you learned about the cycle of systematic searching and how to frame your research. You also learned the basics of developing a research question and defined delimitations.

Go to one of the next sections to go deeper into the different steps in the search cycle.