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Getting Started with Research: Keywords

Keywords Are Key!

moon with misty clouds in front

Image by RSvB is licensed under CC PDM 1.0

When you search in academic databases including MCC Library OneSearch, keywords give you the best search results. Next time you search, instead of typing in a long phrase such as "all the research that shows evidence to prove there's no life on the moon,"  try keywords.

A better search about lunar life would use keywords and look like this:

"life on the moon" and research

Research 101: Searching Is Strategic (3:14)

A Step-by-step Sample Search


  • Change your research question into keywords or search words, like this:
    Question: Is there any connection between legal drinking age and crime rates?
  • Choose a few important words as your initial search words: drinking age, crime 
  • To find many forms of a search word, for example to find crime or crimes or criminal, use an * after the beginning of the word (this is called truncation): crim* (will find crime, crimes, criminal but also Crimea, so think about the possibilities when you use truncation)
  • Use  "   "  to keep words together as a phrase: "drinking age" 
  • Link your terms with AND to find articles that mention all of your search words, Link them with OR to find any of a list of similar words, putting those words inside parentheses (  ):

    "drinking age" and (crim* or violen* or felon* or misdemeanor*)

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