To enable searching, documents are categorized and indexed by different fields, such as the title of the document, name of the author, subject matter discussed, etc. If you search your keywords in the appropriate indexed search field, you are more likely to find relevant results.
Here are the most common search fields that can be searched in research databases:
Author – name of the author. Search by author when you know the name of the author.
Title – title of the document or publication. Search by title when you know the title of the article/book.
Subject Headings – a standardized list of terms that describe a subject matter. Searching by subject can retrieve articles/books that focus on a specific subject matter.
Abstract – summary of the article. Search by abstract for important concepts related to the subject matter.
Keyword – any field in the record, includes important words in title, author, subject, etc. Search by keyword when you are unsure which search field to use.
Different databases may have different search fields for searches. For example, a database of newspapers may have unique search fields like Headline or Lead Paragraph. Explore the available search fields (usually from a drop-down menu next to the search box) and choose the most appropriate search field for each of your search term.
Watch the Search Field video below to learn how to choose appropriate search fields for different search terms.
Sample search:
For example, you are researching for the impacts of bullying. You want to find how bullying may lead to suicidal behavior.
You want to use the search terms: "bullying" and "suicide". Which search fields will you choose for "bullying" and "suicide"?
Since "bullying" is the subject matter of your research, you can search the term "bullying" by Subject. This will pull out all the articles that focus on "bullying" as their subject matter.
"Suicide" is an important concept for your search, searching it in either the subject field or abstract field can get you more relevant results. If the summary of an article has the term "suicide", the article is likely to discuss "suicide" to a great extent.
Of course, you can search these terms in different fields. There is no absolute way to perform a search. You can try different searches, analyze and explore which search field will yield more relevant search results.
Whether you are using research databases or search engines, you should be able to find search options or filtering tools to filter search results.
Search Options in Research Databases
Here are some common search options that can be found in research databases:
Filtering Tools in Web Search Engines
Filtering tools are usually listed at the top or at the sidebar of the search results page that allow you to filter the search results by publication time, video duration, types of images, etc. depending on your search mode. They are usually hidden under “Tools”. For example, in Google, you can filter search results by first choosing a search mode, such as images, videos, news, or books; then click on “Tools” at the right to bring up the filter tabs relevant to that search mode. The screenshots below show different filter tabs for different search mode.
Filter tabs for searching news:
Filter tabs for searching images:
Filter tabs for searching videos:
