LibGuides: Search Help: Common Search Problems: I'm not finding enough

Intro

Here are some reasons your searches may not be finding very many results:

You're looking for too many concepts at once.
You're missing some good keyword synonyms, and/or you're not thinking about keyword variations.
One of the concepts you're looking for is very unusual in your field.
Your database doesn't have good coverage of this topic.

Looking for Too Many Concepts

You're looking for too many concepts at once.

Try removing a concept from your search. A good rule of thumb is to start by combining 2-3 key search concepts in your first search, and then add more concepts to "narrow" your search.
Check your search strategy for errors! If you're using a Boolean operator search, did you use AND when you meant to use OR?

Example: the search below returned zero results:

An advanced search form with four concepts: autism, young adult, speech generation, and sign language.

However, by removing the concept of sign language to focus only on speech generation in youths with autism, we found eight relevant results:

The same search with the concept of sign language removed.

Missing Keyword Synonyms

You're missing some good keyword synonyms, and/or you're not thinking about keyword variations. For example, searching on "educating patients" will miss records that use the similar phrase "patient education."

Can you think of any additional spelling variations or related terms?
Can you do more background research to find additional terminology that may be used in your field?
Can you review some good search results and look at the subject headings to find additional keyword ideas?

Pro Tip: Once you've found some new keyword ideas, use the OR operator to add them into your search using your database's Advanced Search form.

Common mistakes:

Not considering plurals. Don't trust the library database to do this for you! If you search cover, you should also search the plural covers.
Not considering synonyms. There are many ways to say the same thing in the English language. For example, if you are searching on the subject related to teenagers, you should consider the following synonyms: teen(s), teenagers, teenaged, juvenile, adolescent(s), youths, young adult(s), high school, high schooler(s), etc.
Not considering verb conjugates and word endings. For example, education can be written with the following variations: education, educating, educate, educates, educator.
- Tip: in many library databases, you can use the asterisk * as a wildcard to represent any word ending. The search term educat* will find all words beginning with the stem "educat." Note that you have to chop off the end of the word before using truncation. vaccin*, detect*, encapsul* are all examples of word stems.

Not sure how to handle all these variations? Use the OR operator to retrieve records containing any of your specified synonyms. For more information and examples, see the subject guide on using AND and OR.

nurse OR nurses

teen* OR juvenile OR adolescen* OR youth OR youths OR young adult OR young adults OR high school*

educat* OR teach* OR counsel*

You're Using Filler Words

Library databases can be confusing because they don't behave the same way as web search engines like Google. When you search a library database, that database will only return results that contain every word you put into the search box.

That means including filler words that don't really mean anything specific can artificially limit your search.

For example, searching sundown syndrome will miss records that call this disease the sundown phenomenon. The word "sundown" is unique and important; however, the word "syndrome" is not.

Eliminating filler words from your search will increase your search results. Common filler words in medicine that you should consider deleting from your search might include:

treatment, therapy, device, syndrome, rate, patient, outcome, etc.

Note that this consideration is search-specific, so a filler word in one search could actually be an important word in a different search! What filler words can you delete from your search string?

More Background Information

The literature in your field of interest may be using other terminology that you are unaware of. For example, you may be searching speech generating devices when the accepted term is speech output technologies. Do some reading to make sure you are aware of the discipline-specific jargon commonly in use.

At ISU, here are some tools you can use to search for background information:

Find ebooks using the ISU Library Onesearch bar (you can filter your results to just ebooks by using the Source Type menu on the search results page).
Find health sciences ebooks and textbooks in AccessMedicine or ClinicalKey
Look up information about a medical issue in UpToDate
Don't be afraid to use Google or Wikipedia to do some quick background research (it's okay, librarians do it too!)

Here are some great tips for how to use library databases to address this problem and learn more about your topic:

When reviewing your search results, look at the Subject terms on the records you have found. Often, these are added by subject-matter experts to make the records more findable. In the record below, look how many alternative vocabulary words are used to describe the concept speech generating devices.

Subject terms include "Assistive Technology."

For databases that offer a filter menu on the left side of the screen, expand the Subject filter to review top subject terms on your records. Below is an example of the Subject filter in the CINAHL database for the search speech generating devices.

Subject terms for "speech generating devices" in CINAHL.

For databases that offer a subject-specific Thesaurus feature (usually located in the top menu bar), search your keywords and look at what the thesaurus suggests.

Not Much Research on Your Topic

You could be getting very few results because one of the concepts you're looking for is very unusual in your field/database. It could be rare, or cutting-edge, so not much research might have been done on it.

Wrong Database

Your database doesn't have good coverage of this topic. Try a different database!

The library Subject Guides can help you find other great databases in your field or related fields. Below is an example of a library subject guide on the topic of Speech Language Pathology. The library has subject guides covering every department at ISU!

A subject guide for speech language pathology.

To find a guide in your subject area, go to the ISU Library homepage, and click the Subject Guides tab. Choose a subject from the drop-down menu, or click "View All" to see a full list of available guides.