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GEOG 200: Course Guide (Victoria & Gosia): Finding Academic Articles

A research guide intended for geography 200 students working on the in place/out of place assignment

Academic Articles

Search Tips

  • Remember that you will need to use keywords, not full sentences, when searching the databases
     
  • Start out simple. Search using one of the main concepts (keywords) you identified
     
  • Use quotation marks to search for an exact phrase, but do not put quotation marks around your entire search. 

Example of a bad search using a full sentence and a good search, using keywords and short phrases

  • If you get too few results, use OR to broaden your search and to include related keywords. These could be broader, narrower, related terms or synonyms
     
  • If you still get too few results, try searching in a different database

 

Screenshot showing the use of OR to connect synonyms in a database search

  • If you get too many results, you will need to add in keywords representing your second concept using AND to narrow your search.  

 

 

 

Screenshot showing a search using AND to narrow results

Understanding Scholarly Articles

Video: Academic Search Complete

Watch the video below to learn how to search Academic Search Complete.

University of British Columbia. (2015, July 15). Academic Search Complete. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEdCwq9H0LM.