MUSCLE NERDS CONSULTING PTY LTD

MUSCLE NERDS
OPTIMIZING
YOUR SEARCH
CHEAT SHEET FOR EFFECIENT RESEARCH

INFO@MUSCLENERDS.NET
Introduction
Reading, interpreting, and analysing research is a skill in itself. I’ve completed
full semester-long university subjects on how to do it, and I still wouldn’t consider
myself proficient in it (it’s Zoe by the way. Luke on the other hand is very well
versed. Surprise Surprise).

Aside from the skill needed to understand studies and their corresponding
literature, there is also a skill in researching the research. You know, actually
finding what you are looking for. This cheat sheet will help you drastically
narrow down and become more specific in your searching.

Most search engines run off Boolean Logic. Boolean Logic is a type of Algebra
centred around ‘Or’, ‘And’, and ‘Not’. The premise being values are either
true, or they’re not. Boolean is a tribute to the mathematician who lived in the
1800’s and is best known for authoring The Laws of Thought.

In this document, you will some quick tips to help your searches on both Google
and Pubmed.
Google.
“site:” This can be used when you want to tell the search engine to look only
within a certain page/site.
i.e. Fat oxidation site:nih.gov

“Quotation mark” Putting phrases within quotation marks tells google to look
for the exact expression within the quotation marks.
i.e. protein synthesis “muscle growth” site:nih.gov

“intitle:” This tells the search engine to look for a very specific word or phrase in
the article title only.
i.e. protein synthesis intitle:hypertrophy site:nih.gov

“inurl:” This tells the search engine to only return a results from a specific website
and is beneficial when you don’t have access to certain research channels.
i.e. Fat Oxidation inurl:PMC

Note – these operators can be used on their own, or in conjunction with each
other.
Pubmed.
“AND”. This allows you to associate any two terms you are searching so they
are searched for together. The search results will therefore only include both
the term before and after the word operator “AND”. This is especially helpful
when wanting to search for cause, effect, or correlation. Using this operator
narrows down the search results drastically.

Example:

Search Term Search Results

NAD 66,005
Mitochondria 233,680
NAD and Mitochondria 8,793
NAD “AND” Mitochondria 92

“OR”. This does the opposite of “AND”. “OR” is used to broaden (increase)
your search results.

“NOT”. This is used to specifically exclude one or more terms that you do not
want in the results.