10/12/2021

Systematic Searching
Strategies

Presented by Ho Nhu Ngoc

15 October 2021

3 Basic for Your Rigorous Searching

• More keywords
Main keywords
Variation keywords
• More database
Leading Database (e.g. Scopus, Science Direct)
Supporting database (e.g. Google Scholar, Dimension)
• Variation searching technique
Advanced searching (e.g. full search string & partial search string)
Manual searching (e.g. handpicking/handsearching, snowball, emailing
established scholars/ prominent authors)

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1. Identification

3 2. Screening
Process
3. Eligibility

A process to enrich your keywords.

How to enrich your keywords?

• Synonym
• Related terms
1. Identification • Variation

How search synonym, related terms

and variation?
• Thesaurus online
• Keywords from previous research
• Keywords suggested by database (e.g. Scopus)
• Ask expert

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LEADING DATABASE : SCOPUS

Click “Advanced”

Don’t forget to click

“Advanced”

Field Code
Function

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Keywords inside the

bracket

Database will search the

exact keywords in 3
important parts in the
article (title, abstract &
keywords)

PHRASE SEARCHING

Phrase searching
symbol

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Without Phrase
Searching

Higher document
results

Database will provide any articles that

include your keywords :

climate OR change OR adapt OR any

combination of keywords.

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Less documents
than before

database search the

EXACT keywords of
“climate change adapt”

TRUNCATION

Truncation Symbol

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Without Truncation
Symbol

Truncation symbol increasing

the document results

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WILD CARD SYMBOL

For Singular/Plural
or British/American

Without Wild
Card Symbol

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Wild Card symbol increasing the

document results

BOOLEAN OPERATOR - OR

Used to include synonym,

related terms and variation
of keywords

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Without Boolean
Operator - OR

Boolean
Operator - OR

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BOOLEAN OPERATOR - AND

To include
our next
keywords

Without Boolean
Operator - AND

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Boolean
Operator - AND

Phrase searching Truncation

Field code function

Wild card Boolean Boolean

Must included DOUBLE Operator - OR Operator - AND
BRACKET in earlier & end
of the search string

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A process on which articles we

want to review (filtering process).

How to choose articles that we

2. SCREENING need to review?
• It must be based on criteria: -
Timeline publication
Publication type
Language

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Second process of screening.

Process where the authors manually

monitored the retrieved articles to
ensure all the remaining articles (after
the screening process) are in line with
3. ELIGIBILITY the criteria.

How to run second process of

screening?
Read title
Read abstract
Read the whole article

SUPPORTING
DATABASE
https://app.dimensions.ai/discover/publication

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BOOLEAN OPERATOR - AND

2ND keywords
without bracket

2ND keywords
inside bracket

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all keywords
inside bracket
without AND

BOOLEAN OPERATOR - OR

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Without Phrase
Searching

Phrase Searching

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Field Code
Function

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