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Educational Psychology Research

Search Tips & Tutorials

Best practices for searching are relatively consistent across interfaces. No matter which database you choose, remember these important tips...

1) Don't search wth your topic as a single phrase! Determine the key concepts of your topic. Then place each concept in its own search bar.  For example...

Image of sample database search: line 1, college students; line 2, retention; line 3, first generation

2) Use ORs to string together synonyms or related terms for those concepts...

Image of sample database search: line 1, college students OR undergraduates; line 2, retention OR completion OR persistence; line 3, first generation OR first in family

3) Use truncation, when appropriate. Adding an * to the end of a word will catch all forms of that word. For example, teach* will return teach, teachers, teaching, etc.

Image of sample database search: line 1, college students OR undergraduates; line 2, retention OR complet* OR persist*; line 3, first generation OR first in family

4) Use proximity searches to force a relationship between two terms. This isn't always needed, but it's sometimes super helpful. Completion is a common word that may come up in many context. The search below means that the word complete or completion must appear within two words of college in the article title and abstracts.

Image of sample database search: line 1, college students OR undergraduates; line 2, retention OR (college n2 complet*) OR persistence; line 3, first generation OR first in family

5) Look for the "peer reviewed" limit in each database, and set date limits as appropriate for your topic. Don't choose the "Full Text" limit as this will exclude articles that we have online via other sources. Just follow the orange "Find it @ UT" button to be taken to the journal sites.

Image of database "limit to" box: Full text, (checked) Scholarly (peer reviewed) Journals, Cover Story, and Publication Date slider

 

1. Break up your topic/research question into it's primary concepts

Topic: What impact does tobacco use have on the lung health of teenagers?

  • Population - teenagers
  • Problem - tobacco use
  • Outcome - lung health

2. Brainstorm synonyms for your terms (see more in next tab)

  • For the Population concept: teenagers, teens, adolescents, youth, young adults, juvenile

3. String the terms for each concept together with ORs to include all of your synonyms

  • Concept 1: teenagers OR teens OR adolescents OR youth OR "young adults" OR "young adult" OR juveniles
  • Concept 2: tobacco OR smoking OR vaping OR cigarettes OR nicotine
  • Concept 3: lung health OR "respiratory health" OR "respiratory distress" OR dyspnea OR asthma OR "pulmonary disorder" OR "pulmonary disorders" OR "pulmonary disease" OR "pulmonary diseases"

4. Combine each concept string together with ANDs

(teenagers OR teens OR adolescents OR youth OR "young adults" OR "young adult" OR juveniles) AND (tobacco OR smoking OR vaping OR cigarettes OR nicotine) AND (lung health OR "respiratory health" OR "respiratory distress" OR dyspnea OR asthma OR "pulmonary disorder" OR "pulmonary disorders" OR "pulmonary disease" OR "pulmonary diseases")

What is peer review?

Peer Review is a critical part of evaluating information. It is a process that journals use to ensure the articles they publish represent the best scholarship currently available, and articles from peer reviewed journal are often grounded in empirical research. When an article is submitted to a peer reviewed journal, the editors send it out to other scholars in the same field (the author's peers) to get their assessment of the quality of the scholarship, its relevance to the field, its appropriateness for the journal, etc. Sometimes, you'll see this referred to as "refereed." 

Publications that don't use peer review (Time, Cosmo, Salon) rely on an editor to determine the value of an article. Their goal is mainly to educate or entertain the general public, not to support scholarly research.

Most library databases will have a search feature that allows you to limit your results to peer reviewed or scholarly sources.

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