Library research has changed less than students think. The interfaces are slicker and the databases are bigger, but the underlying skill — choosing the right place to look, asking the right query, and judging what you find — is the same craft librarians have taught for decades. Master it once and every research-heavy assignment gets faster.
This guide walks through choosing databases, building searches with Boolean operators, using citation chaining to expand a project, and applying the CRAAP test to keep weak sources out of your paper.
Choosing the Right Database
Your library subscribes to far more than the catalogue alone. General databases like JSTOR, ProQuest, and EBSCO cover most disciplines. Subject-specific databases dig deeper into one field: PubMed and CINAHL for health, Scopus and Web of Science for STEM, MLA International and Project MUSE for literature, ERIC for education. Open repositories — Google Scholar, arXiv, SSRN — fill gaps for working papers and preprints. Start with two carefully chosen sources rather than scattering across ten.
| Operator | Effect | Example |
|---|---|---|
| AND | Both terms must appear | climate AND policy |
| OR | Either term | teen OR adolescent |
| NOT | Excludes term | jaguar NOT car |
| " " | Exact phrase | "social capital" |
| * | Truncation | educat* (educate, education) |
| NEAR/n | Within n words | diet NEAR/3 diabetes |
Building a Search You Can Defend
A reusable search has three parts: a concept block, a synonym block joined by OR, and a filter block for date, peer-review, or language. Document your final query — for a literature review you will need to defend the search strategy. The first search is almost never the best one. Run two or three iterations, scan abstracts, then refine vocabulary based on the terms your good results actually use.
Evaluating Sources With CRAAP
- Currency: Is the date appropriate for your field's pace of change?
- Relevance: Does it answer your specific question, not just the topic?
- Authority: Who is the author and what institution stands behind them?
- Accuracy: Are claims cited, data linked, and findings reproducible?
- Purpose: Is it research, advocacy, or marketing? Check funding sources.
From Search to Citation: A Repeatable Loop
Treat literature work as a loop you run many times rather than a single sweep:
- Search a database with your concept-and-synonym query.
- Scan titles and abstracts, saving only the genuinely relevant hits.
- Read the keepers and mine their reference lists and citing papers for more.
- Capture each source in your bibliography tool immediately, with a one-line note on why it matters.
- Refine your search vocabulary using the terms your best results actually use, then repeat.
Recording citations as you go — not at the end — is what keeps a large review from collapsing into chaos.
Format Sources As You Go
Keep your bibliography clean from day one with StudentKit's bibliography formatter.
Bibliography Formatter →