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Basic Research

This guide is intended to help you learn about conducting research.

Combining Keywords

What are Booleans?

Booleans are words that are used to connect search terms-

OR

Broadens your search by searching for items with either term. This will retrieve papers that have at least one of the words:

ASD OR autism spectrum disorders

 

AND

Narrows your results by only searching for items that contain both terms. This will only retrieve papers that include both terms in the text:

animal assisted therapy AND autism

 

NOT

Narrows your search by excluding results that contain that term. This will retrieve papers that discuss animal assisted therapy and autism unless they also include adults:

animal assisted therapy AND autism NOT adults

Search Basics

Keywords in Academic Search Premier

Try it out!

Try a search with your terms using Booleans to connect them together. 

Use the search boxes on this page to search in Academic Search Premier. Look at the number of results that you get- e.g. do you get fewer results when you use AND? More when you use OR?

 

What next?

Keyword searching is the most basic way to search, but there are many more techniques you can use. Take a look at the next page to learn about subject headings and how they can help you find articles, especially when you are having a hard time coming up with good keywords.