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Search Strategy |
What it does |
Example |
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AND (Boolean Operator) |
All terms must appear Narrows your search Fewer results Use to include multiple unique concepts |
“coffee AND Brazil” searches for all articles that include both terms, coffee and Brazil
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OR (Boolean Operator) |
Either term may appear Broadens your search More results Use for related concepts |
“coffee OR caffeine” searches for either term in the articles
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NOT (Boolean Operator) |
Removes a term from your search Narrows your search Fewer results Use for concepts you do not want to include |
“South America NOT Brazil” searches for articles on South America and removes articles with the word Brazil in them
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Phrases |
Search for exact phrases Narrows your search Fewer results |
“ecological tourism” searches for that phrase in that particular order |
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Truncation |
Searches for all forms of a word Broadens your search More results Use to search for the root word of a concept |
Add an asterisk * to the root or stem of a word A search for “tour*” will look for tour, tourism, tourist |
What are limits and why use them?
Limits are helpful in focusing your search. Once you've done your initial search you can use some limits to help you narrow your results to a more manageable amount of information.
Below is a list of subjects that often relate to nursing issues. Considering these subject terms can help you develop a topic or focus your search.
Systematic Review
"A systematic review attempts to identify, appraise and synthesize all the empirical evidence that meets pre-specified eligibility criteria to answer a given research question" (The Cochrane Library)
Meta Analysis
Meta analysis is "a statistical synthesis of the numerical results of several trials which all address the same question" (Greenhalgh, 2010, p.121).
The Cochrane Library and JBI - Ovid are primary resources for finding meta analysis and systematic reviews. However they can also be found in PubMed and Health - EBSCO databases.
