Research Question: Write your research topic as a question. Be sure that your question accurately summarizes your research topic.
Major Concepts: Examine your research question, what are the major concepts? The chart will help you identify good search terms.
Database Search Strategy Table: Use the table below to organize your thoughts before beginning your search.
Example research question: Does strength training improve performance and prevent injury for runners?
| Major Concepts | Key Words (Synonyms, brand names, abbreviations) |
|---|---|
| Runners |
Runners, Running |
| Strength training | Strength training, resistance training, weightlifting |
| Performance | Performance |
| Injury prevention | Injury prevention, injury, injuries |
Very basic: (_______) AND (_______ ) AND (_______)
More advanced: (____ OR ____) AND (____ OR ____) AND (____ OR ____)
Example search strategy for the research example in the table above: (running OR runners) AND (strength training OR resistance training OR weightlifting) AND (performance OR injury prevention)
Always search databases through the UAB Libraries access. And look for this button to link you to full text:
Then follow the images below to PDFs.
The design of this page was partly adapted from Research: By Course, Subject, or Topic, by University of Arizona Libraries, © 2020 The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of The University of Arizona, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.