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Step 3. Plan and Execute Your Search

Step 3. Plan and Execute Your Search

Now that we have a well-formulated question and know where to search, it's time to build a search strategy. We'll start with a basic strategy for quick searching, before moving on to a more advanced and comprehensive search strategy. 

 

In this section, you'll:
  • Learn how to conduct a quick and efficient search 
  • Construct a search strategy using keywords, synonyms and Boolean logic
  • Carry out your search strategy in a relevant database
  • Complete an advanced search using MeSH terms and Keywords

If you need to do a more comprehensive search for a thorough literature review, you'll need to come up with a more complete search strategy. This involves identifying key concepts, brainstorming synonyms and related terms, and combining these with Boolean operators (AND/OR).

Identifying Key Concepts

This step is an expansion of your PICO framework (see Step 1: Ask a Searchable Question for more on PICO). In some cases, you may have multiple concepts for a PICO element. For example, if your population (P) is pediatric cerebral palsy patients, pediatric and cerebral palsy would be two key concepts. Use the PICO framework to map out your key concepts.

QUESTION: 

What physical therapy strengthening interventions are recommended for pediatric cerebral palsy patients?

Population/Patients

Intervention

Comparison

Outcome

Pediatric cerebral palsy

Strengthening

n/a

Gait and balance

KEY CONCEPTS

Pediatric

Strengthening

---

Gait
Cerebral palsy
Balance

 

Brainstorm Synonyms and Related Terms

Next, think of synonyms and other terms that might be used to describe your topic. Thesauri and dictionaries are useful resources for synonyms.

  • Try the Summon (KRS) search box or a Google search. Use the results you see to identify keywords in titles or abstracts that might fit your topic.
  • Another great tool is the National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Heading Browser. Use this tool to find the subject headings and related terms for your search. We’ll talk about subject headings more in the advanced searching section.

Also, as with all aspects of your search, don’t hesitate to contact KRS if you need a hand!

Let's brainstorm synonyms and related terms for our pediatric cerebral palsy strengthening question:

KEY CONCEPTS

Pediatric

Child

Strengthening

Muscle strengthening

Resistance Training

Resistance exercise

Progressive resistance

---

Gait

Walking

Cerebral palsy

CP**

Balance

Weight distribution

**Always use the abbreviation and the full spelling when both are common

 

Truncate Terms

Truncating a term searches for the root and allows for variation in the suffix. This is a great strategy for singular, plural, -isms, -ions, -ologies, etc. It broadens your search using only one root, making your searches more thorough. Most databases will truncate your term with an *. If you are unsure if the truncation is working properly, check the database help section for details on how to truncate. 

KEY CONCEPTS

Pediatric*

Child*

Strength*

Muscle strength*

Resistance Training

Resistance exercise*

Progressive resistance

Improved gait

Walk*

Cerebral palsy

CP

Balanc*

Weight distribut*


Combining Terms with AND/OR

Most databases use Boolean operators, a means of combining key concepts, to search for results. Some basic search boxes will automatically put an AND between all terms entered and others require the searcher to tell the database what to do. Understanding how the OR & AND work in a database is essential to understanding how a search will be treated by the database and what to expect from the results.

OR

OR is used to combine synonyms and related terms. It finds all instances of the terms connected by the OR.

For example, a search for Child* OR Pediatric* will find all instances of the root child, all instances of the root pediatric, and all instances where both appear. This leads to more results with better coverage of that concept.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We can continue to use our PICO/key concepts table to help us organize and plan our search strategy. We’ll use this table to identify how we will use the OR for our search.

KEY CONCEPTS        

Pediatric*

OR

Child*

Strength*

OR

Muscle strength*

OR

Resistance Training

OR

Resistance exercise*

OR

Progressive resistance

Improved gait

OR

Walk*

Cerebral palsy

OR

CP

Balanc*

OR

Weight distribut*

 

AND

AND is used to combine different terms. It finds instances where overlap occurs and all terms appear in the same results.

For example, a search for Cerebral Palsy AND Strength* will find instances where both terms appear in the same results. This leads to fewer, more relevant and focused results. 

* OR searches should be completed first, and then combined using AND

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We can continue to use our PICO/key concepts table to help us organize and plan our search strategy. We’ll use this table to identify how we will use the AND for our search.

KEY CONCEPTS

Pediatric*

OR

Child*

 

 

AND

Strength*

OR

Muscle strength*

OR

Resistance Training

OR

Resistance exercise*

OR

Progressive resistance

 

 

AND

Improved gait

OR

Walk*

AND

AND

Cerebral palsy

OR

CP

Balanc*

OR

Weight distribut*

 

Take a moment to think about your key concepts, and brainstorm any synonyms and related terms:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Try combining those terms using AND/OR. 

 

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