Locating Scholarly Articles

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GEN 103: Information Literacy

Generating Search Terms Worksheet

Purpose

Use this worksheet to develop keywords for use in searching for resources related to your research question. Hover over the blue underlined words to read the definitions in the Glossary located at the end of this document.

Search Question

In the space below, enter the research question you have developed.

Major Concepts

List in the table below as many concepts related to your research question as apply. See the example table for help creating concepts and synonyms to use as search terms. For help identifying synonyms, try using this online thesaurus .

Note: While your textbook mentions the use of Boolean Operators in databases, you do not need to use them when accessing the Ashford University Library databases. These databases are already equipped to do this for you.

Major Concepts Table

CONCEPT 1

CONCEPT 2

CONCEPT 3

OR

OR

OR

OR

AND

OR

AND

OR

OR

OR

OR

OR

OR

OR

Example Major Concepts Table

Search Question: What is the connection between smoking and depression among teenagers?

Major Concepts: List as many as apply. (Example: smoking, depression, teenagers)

CONCEPT 1

CONCEPT 2

CONCEPT 3

smoking

depression

teenagers

OR

OR

OR

cigarettes

mental health

teens

OR

AND

OR

AND

OR

tobacco

mood

adolescents

OR

OR

nicotine

youth

OR

high school students

OR

college students

Glossary Return to top

Annotated bibliography: A list of references with descriptions and a brief summary or critical statement about each one. Return

Boolean Operators: The words “and”, “or”, “not”. Used when searching databases for keywords. Return

Concept: Ideas or notions. Return

Keyword: Concept or word with significance to your research. Return

Research question: The starting point for your research. This question should contain key terms or concepts (ideas) related to your research topic (Soloman, Wilson, and Taylor, 2012). Return

Synonyms: Words with same or similar meaning to other words. Return

Thesaurus: Tool for identifying synonyms. Return