Research Guides
If you can’t find the specific piece of information you’re looking for, consider searching a little more broadly. The details you want may be part of a larger document like a market report, review article, book chapter, or practice guideline.
It can be helpful to learn from a similar technology that’s farther along in development. How did they test it? What regulatory path did they follow? Who did they partner with?
The same technology or condition may be referred to in several different ways. Look for additional search terms as you review results, and then try those terms in your searches
Sometimes you're looking for a company name or there's a drop-down menu you can use to choose your search terms.
When you're searching a literature database, you may need to search with combinations of terms to find the publications you're looking for. In literature database.
| Syntax | Function of Word or Punctuation in a Search Strategy | Search Example |
|---|---|---|
| AND | Retrieves items that contain both terms. Good for combining topics to narrow a search. | retina AND regeneration |
| OR | Retrieves items that contain at least one of the terms. Good for combining synonyms. | regeneration OR regrowth |
| * | Retrieves word variants, such as regenerate, regeneration, regenerated | regenerat* |
| " " | Retrieves the exact phrase contained by the quotation marks. | "retinal neuron" |
| ( ) | Article needs to mention "retina" and EITHER regenerat* OR regrow*. | retina AND (regenerat* OR regrow*) |