Oftentimes, quality research comes from diversifying databases. A cross-database approach allows researchers to scan information available on the breadth and depth of any given topic. When researching, try multiple databases including interdisciplinary (such as Academic Search Complete) and subject specific (IEEE), as well as large (ACM) and small (ArXiv CoRR).
Using Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) in search phrases is a powerful way to refine or maximize search results. Use Boolean operators in academic databases (note that Boolean does not work with Google's search interface). Boolean commands AND, OR, and NOT must be typed out in all capitals.
Here are basic examples of how AND, OR, NOT work inside search boxes.
The image below shows the search box for IEEE Xplore with the search phrase using the Boolean terms OR and AND. The search phrase reads (cloud computing OR environment) and "data models", which tells the database to retrieve articles that include the terms cloud computing or environment (but not necessarily both cloud computing and environment in the same article) and the article must also include the complete phrase "data models".
Use parenthesis to combine terms and specify search order. For example, the search phrase (cloud computing OR environment) AND "data models" combines the terms cloud computing and environment inside parenthesis. Since parenthesis specify the order in which the entire search phrase is interpreted, the database will first identify cloud computing OR environment, then identify data models.
Use quotation marks around an entire phrase to retrieve articles that contain the exact phrase in the article title or text body. For example, using quotes around "data models" tells the database to show results with the exact phrase, data models, within an article. When quotation marks are not used, the database will separate the word data from the word models within any text. Quotation marks work best around 2-3 word phrases. Try searching phrases with and without quotations to see what differences appear in the search results.
Use the wild card command * at the end of a word to retrieve all possible word forms. For example, data model* would retrieve data model, data models, data modeling, and so on.
Diversifying keywords is often the most helpful search strategy. A researcher can effectively expand keyword vocabulary and maximize searching efficiency by using the subject terms and keywords that a database has indexed for any given article. To learn which keywords a database has indexed for an article, look for a list of keywords that are typically near the top or bottom of an article's record. Sometimes, the keywords are accessible via a navigation menu attached to an article's record. For example, the screenshot below shows what keywords are listed for the article in IEEE database: Block Design-Based Key Agreement for Group Data Sharing in Cloud Computing (Shen, et. al., 2019). In IEEE, keywords are always listed near the bottom of the article page. IEEE provides indexed terms from the article's author and from INSPEC (database for technical engineering, information and computer science), in addition to the keywords IEEE has identified for this particular item. All keywords are hyperlinked to addition articles. If you were to click on any of the hyperlinked terms, you would be shown a list of all the articles in IEEE that include those keywords.
Citation chaining is an great way to find additional information tied to a key concept by tracking which references are listed in a particular article's reference list (in other words, the previous research on a topic), as well as tracking articles that have cited that particular article since it was published (in other words, more recent research on the topic). For example, if you were to conduct citation chaining on the IEEE article, Block Design-Based Key Agreement for Group Data Sharing in Cloud Computing (Shen, et. al., 2019), you would need to look at both of the article's references and paper citations. In IEEE an article's References list is conveniently accessible from the article record navigation menu. Selecting the References option from the menu will direct you to all the articles cited. NOTE: If the database you are using does not have the references indexed, you can still find the references by looking at the very end of any full text article for the list of works cited (references).
Next, to find out who has cited the article Block Design-Based Key Agreement for Group Data Sharing in Cloud Computing since it was published, find the Paper Citations list. In IEEE, a link to paper citations appears at the top of the article near the title. In this case, Block Design-Based Key Agreement has been cited in 128 other articles. Clicking on Paper Citations will lead to a list of those articles.
If the database you are using does not list additional paper citations, you can look for them in Google Scholar. Paste the title of any article in Google Scholar's search box and look for the Cited By link below the article title. The Cited By will link to additional works. Notice in the example for Block Design-Based Key Agreement that Google Scholar indicates this article has been cited 225 times, whereas IEEE listed 128 citations. The Google Scholar Cited By number will always be larger than what is listed in an academic database because Google Scholar captures written works that are found anywhere on the web, including white papers, gray literature, blog posts, websites, and so on. Academic databases like IEEE will only list additional citations that are considered scholarly or academic, and that are most likely peer reviewed, thus usually resulting in a lower cited by number.
All great research starts with a question. Writing a quality research question can drastically improve the outcomes of the research process. For suggestions on how to get started, consult with the following:
What you will be able to find on any topic depends on the types of keywords and phrases used in a search. Adjusting keywords, even slightly, can unlock a new realm of information. Knowing which keywords to use for any topic can often be challenging. Therefore, it is wise to brainstorm several keywords, including synonyms and related terms, before you begin to search.
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