Databases scan articles for the exact search terms that you type. Here are a few tips that will help increase or narrow your results.
Different keywords = different results
Look for up-to-date information. Within the past 5 years.
Plural vs. singular = various forms of the word will give you different results.
Use “or” to increase results. If you are searching for information specifically in the United States, try using the keywords (United States or America) to search both terms simultaneously.
Truncation = take the stem of any word, example “teach*”and add an asterisk. This will search for every form of the word simultaneously. For example: teach, teaches, teaching, teacher.
Use Quotes = this works really well when searching for a person or phrase. For example, “Ronald McDonald” or “obsessive compulsive disorder”. Databases will search for these words together.
Google = type in your keywords and add “site: edu”, gov. or org to receive only those types of websites in your results.