Truncation - find all words starting with the letters you have typed. Most common truncation symbol is the asterisk *
Ex, obes* = obese, obesity
child* = child, childhood, childlike, children
Exact Phrase - use quotation marks around your term to get that exact phrase
Ex. "high fructose corn syrup"
Field Searching - you can search specifically in the title, the abstract (summary), or by author.
Most databases have pull down menus that let you select which field you want to search.
Below are some keywords and phrases that might work for the topics you are researching. You can also come up with additional terms and phrases to use in your search strategy. If you find a good article on your topic check to see what words are being used in that article and add them to your search to retrieve additional articles..
Combine these keywords and phrases with the country or region you are searching (e.g. spain and "food habits"). You might need to add additional terms to your search strategy to focus in on your topic.
See the section below on Boolean searching for more information on how to combine search terms in your search strategy..
Your searches will work best in most databases if you break your topic apart and then combine the concepts with AND/OR. This is called Boolean logic and is named after a mathematician
AND - narrows your searches
Ex. Obesity AND Sugared drinks
OR - broadens your searches
Ex. sugared drinks OR sweetened beverages OR soft drink*
Most databases will have pull down boxes where you can select AND or OR.
You can also use these together by using parenthesis.
(obesity OR overweight) AND (sugared drinks OR sweetened beverage* OR soft drink* OR juice OR sports drinks)
The above in pictures
OR - gets all the info from both circles
AND - gets only the info where the circles overlap
