Step One: Consider two to three concepts that help to explain or directly relate to your research topic. Use these broad concepts to identify keywords. See search tips below. Use the chart below as a guide.
Topic/Question:
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Can altruistic behavior help break cycles of addiction?
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Concepts/keywords:
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Altruism
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addiction
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Consider alternative keywords for the concepts
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Altruism
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Addiction
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empathy
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Drug addition
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Compassion
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Drug rehabilitation
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Step Two: Develop a search strategy using the keywords and/or phrases. Less is more; start with a few keywords and if necessary build a more comprehensive search. See search tips below.
Step Three: Recognize that databases have similar features, such as “limiters” or ways to narrow the search results (e.g., date of publication, peer-reviewed journal, and full-text). Apply limiters if necessary.
Step Four: View the results. If the search strategy did not return any results try changing the keywords.
Search tips (EBSCOhost)
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Use
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Purpose
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Quotation marks
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Exact phrase searching
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AND
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Combine terms
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NOT
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Omit or ignore a term
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OR
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Expand the search to include either or both terms
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Parenthesis
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Structure a Boolean (AND, OR, NOT) search
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*
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Truncate a term or complete a phrase
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?
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Wildcard used to replace a single letter
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#
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Wildcard used for alternate spellings
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N and a number
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Finds terms near x terms
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W and a number
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Finds terms within x terms in order
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Try not to use punctuation
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Databases ignore these unless it is a question mark
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Try not to use stop words
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Databases ignore these
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