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Biology Research Guide

Guidance to help students with Biology research papers and projects.

Basic Search Tips

Unlike Google, library databases can't understand an entire sentence. So you'll need to break your topic down into the most important ideas - the KEYWORDS.

Example Topic: How do comorbidities impact illness severity in patients hospitalized with COVID-19?

The specifics of your topic will matter when selecting sources, but for searching you only need the most essential components.

Keywords: comorbidity, illness severity, COVID-19

Most words have synonyms that mean the same, or very similar, things. For each keyword in your topic, try to come up with at least one synonym. Not all keywords will have synonyms, but many do!

Example:

Keyword: COVID-19 Synonym: SARS-CoV-2
Keyword: comorbidity Related Concepts: immunodeficiency, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, etc.

 

Keep an Eye Out

Sometimes scholars use terms that you might not be familiar with, or which might mean something very specific within the discipline. While searching, look for unfamiliar terms or words that show up a lot. Try searching for those and see if you find more relevant sources.

Most library databases have search tools built in. Try some of these:

  • Subject: Think of subjects as official hashtags. Use them to find sources about that subject.
  • Date Range: Limit your search to sources published between specific years.
  • Peer Reviewed: Limit your search to scholarly journal articles.
  • Full Text: Make sure all of the results are available to read in full.

Look on the left and right of your search results, or for an "advanced search" page to find these tools - and more!

Advanced Search Tips

Venn diagram showing covid-19 AND comorbidity

Use the operator AND to find only sources that mention both keywords.

COVID-19 AND comorbidity

This search will bring back fewer results than searching either keyword on its own.

Venn diagram showing covid-19 OR SARS-CoV-2

Use the OR operator to expand your search with additional keywords.

COVID-19 OR SARS-CoV-2

This will find sources that include either word, so you'll see more results than by searching for just one keyword.

Search terms in database: Covid-19 OR SARS-CoV-2 AND comorbidity OR comorbidities AND "illness severity"

Use the “QUOTES” strategy to search for several words in a phrase.

"illness severity"

This will bring back results that only use that exact phrase.