Latino Research Institute

What has worked, what has not worked in your searching?

What keywords are leading you in promising directions?

Since research like this is done over a period of time and not in one sitting, it is essential to keep records of your search strategies to avoid redoubling efforts and losing promising leads.

Strategy 1: Use a citation manager.

Most citation managers out there have robust features to support you in storing and annotating sources and keeping notes.

Strategy 2:

Use a research log to brainstorm keywords and keep track of successful search strategies.

The most favorable disposition to have as a researcher is one of curiosity. Research is not linear. Your searching will reveal unexpected paths for you to pursue. Your research must be informed by the previous contributions made to your field.

• Don't let the topic you started with get in the way of new avenues to explore
• Don't let your goals stand in the way of flexibility
• Have research conversations with professors, librarians, colleagues and friends - research can be isolating and frustrating. It really does help to talk it out and get advice for next steps or your own research blind spots

• Devote each line to an aspect of your topic you want to explore. Doing so allows you to link similar terms with OR to be more flexible
• Brainstorm alternate and related keywords (Afro-latino, afro-hispanic)
• Use the * to complete alternate endings (afro-latin* will produce results that include afro-latino, afro-latinx, afro-latina, afro-latin@ and afro-latin). Some databases use other wildcards and truncation, but it's usually an asterisk.
• Unpack terms to explore all the ways experts may talk about your topic (racism, discrimination, colorism).
• Focus on a population impacted (college students, undergraduates)
• Is there a methodology you want to explore? Do not include it as a search term. By all means, play around with that, but these terms are not indexed consistently (most databases do not search full text).
• As you look at your results, identify weak points in your search string and add or delete terms.