Before you build your search strategy, identify some databases for your search based on your topic or subject area. For example, if you are interested in school social work, education, psychology, or social services databases would be more relevant that PubMed. See databases by subject or ask a librarian for help.
Start to build a search strategy by determining search terms. Search terms or keywords can be people, events, theories, concepts, tools, interventions, programs etc. Use terms that describe the concepts in the research question and their synonyms. You can consult a reference text, such as an encyclopedia, for additional background information and to identify additional terms.
For example, if you are interested in researching investigating illicit marketplaces on the dark web, in addition to "dark web" some additional key words might be "darkweb," "dark net," and "Tor," or broader terms like "cybercrimes" or "computer crimes."
You may have to test a few terms to see which terms retrieve the most relevant results. You can look at the subjects or keywords listed in the "details" section of your results for additional terms to try.
AND includes both terms
Example: "dark web" AND "markets"
OR includes either term
Example: "marketplace" OR "markets"
NOT excludes term*
Example: "markets" NOT "drug"
*Note that NOT may exclude results with the term even if a result contains a search term you want included
Using database syntax can help you refine your search. For example using "double quotations" will narrow searches by searching only for that specific phrase rather than each individual term. Using truncation (*) can expand your search by expanding the scope of a single term.
| Symbol | Use | Function | Example |
| "..." | Double quotation marks | Searches exact phrase | "dark web" |
| * | truncation | Adds none or more characters | crim* searches crime, crimes, criminal, criminology, etc |
Different database platforms (i.e. EBSCO, ProQuest) may use different syntax. Review a more complete list of database syntax.
A search strategy (or search string) are the keywords, terms, and syntax used in your search. A typical search strategy includes 2-4 concepts, but may include more keywords.
For example, an initial search for information on illicit marketplaces on the dark web:
"dark web" AND market*
But you may want to expand your search to get results on marketplaces on the dark web but also narrow results to guns or weapons. So instead you might try:
("dark web" OR darknet* OR "dark nets" OR Tor OR "invisible web") AND (drug* AND market*)
User the search filters to narrow your search. Common limiters are resource type (scholarly article, book, etc), date, and subject. In Search@UW there are also filters for peer-reviewed articles only, or available online only.
What if my search produces
Search@UW and databases have an advanced search function that helps you be more specific and get more relevant results. You can specify searching for terms in specific fields, for example in only the title, abstract, or subject fields. Some other advanced features can include publication dates, languages, type of resource, and sometimes methodology.
Use a combination of controlled vocabularies and keywords when you're searching. Controlled vocabularies assign a subject heading to index different concepts to the same term. Examples of controlled vocabularies the Library of Congress Subject Headings (as seen in the Search@UW online catalog) and MeSH (Medical Subject Headings). Academic Search Complete has it's own subject headings, which are the same as those used in Criminal Justice Abstracts.
Example: To search for dark web marketplaces, you can use keywords like marketplace OR markets, which may be different than the subject terms. Below are the controlled vocabulary terms related to dark web market places.
Library of Congress: "Computer Crimes", "Black Market"
Academic Search Complete: Cryptomarkets, Darknets(Filesharing)