Nursing: Plan your Search

Why plan your search

At university, you are expected to find and use scholarly information.

This page will show you how to plan your search so you retrieve the best results. 

Unpacking your assignment

Your first step before you find any information is figuring out what your assignment is asking you and what your topic is about.

The following video shows you how to break down your assessment and get started brainstorming keywords you can use.
 

Step 1: Identify your key concepts

The main ideas (or key concepts) in your assignment question or research topic are your starting point for building a search.

Example:

Are compression stockings effective for preventing deep vein thrombosis post-surgery? 

The key concepts are: 

If you are working from a scenario, you can also use PICO to break down your question. Check the Evidence-Based Practice guide for more information.

Step 2: Brainstorm keywords & synonyms

Researchers will refer to the same concept using different terms. For example, when researchers are talking about compression stockings, they could also say compression socks.

Track any terms you can think of in a table like this to include in your search.

Example:

Step 3: Building your search

Use Boolean Operators to combine your search terms. You can build multiple searches using different combinations of synonyms & keywords.

Watch the video below to see how it works.

Step 4: Run your search

Depending on where you are searching, you can put together your search string in two ways:

Single box

e.g. Library catalogue, Google Scholar, ProQuest simple search

Multiple boxes

e.g. CINAHL, ProQuest advanced search

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Resources