What is the quickest way to find and/or browse a journal?
Click on the Journals button on the library's homepage and search by title or ISBN number to find out if the library has a journal, and if so, where to find it online or in print. Typically, a journal entry in the search will list publication information, library call number and location information if the journal is in print, a link to a database for online content along with the dates available, and more information. If we don't have the journal you need, try Google Scholar or more reliably, use the Interlibrary Loan service.
COMBINING KEYWORDS
The three words that you can use to combine your search keywords most efficiently are: and, or, and not. Take a look at the image below to get a sense of how they work.
Take a look at this super cute Boolean Search graphic from Muck Rack.
Two symbols you can also use to further refine your search keywords are "quotation marks" and the asterisk *.
"Quotation marks" searches for groups of words together. This works best if you are looking for a title or phrase.
Some databases or library resources use parentheses () to group words instead.
The asterisk * is usually found above the number eight on most keyboards. Use the asterisk * to abbreviate words so you can find all possible spelling variations in your search results. It will also make your search results increase, typically.
Most databases also have a Subject or Controlled Vocabulary search mode that you can use in alone or in combination with search keywords (as seen in the image below). This mode uses words or phrases as categories or tags that are linked so you can see all the articles associated with that subject term or phrase.
Subject Search - The easiest way to use this mode is to find an article you like, then click on the Subjects field in the extended article detail view. This will add the subject into the search fields at the top of the page, and will display a list of all the articles that are associated with that subject. You can add more keywords to further refine your search while staying within the group of articles assigned to the subject in your search box.
What if I just want to see a list of all the subjects and begin my search from there?
You can access subjects through the Thesaurus.
The Thesaurus search page has options for matching your keywords to potential subjects. You can also use the search builder buttons to combine multiple subjects using and, or and not in some databases.
Although literature review article searches should include core databases from subject areas and disciplines, there are a few databases and resources that are recommended for the intensive searching literature reviews often require.
Additionally there are two citation analysis strategies that can help:
Web of Science
Web of Science is a citation analysis database that can be used for backward and forward citation tracing. In the illustration below, the label reading 18 Citations refers to the articles that have cited the highlighted article (forward tracing) and the label reading 30 References links to the articles cited within the highlighted article (backward tracing).
Google Scholar is a popular, accessible tool for forward citation tracing. Look for the Cited by label to browse a list of citing articles. One important consideration: very new articles may not have been cited yet.
