ATTR 7122: Evidence-Based Decision Making in Athletic Training Practice: 6. Create and Run Your Own Searches

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Download the Keyword List document

Complete PubMed Activity

Create a Keyword List

It is important to have keywords or search terms that you use to represent your topic. Databases are literal and cannot interpret your search question.

Before you start searching - you should write down initial words that you know.

As you search - you should write down new terms that you are searching.

Download this Word doc and begin to keep track of your keywords. This is a living document that can shift and change as you search.

Create Keyword List
Use to track searches and what is working and what isn't.

Creating a Search String

Using Boolean operators you can take the core concepts from your keyword list and string them together.

A typical search can look like:

(dance therapy) AND (adolescent)

This will bring me back all articles that contain all three terms. But if I want to expand my pool (and get other relevant articles), I can add additional search terms or keywords so my search string looks like:

(dance therapy) AND (adolescent OR children) AND (stress OR anxiety)

Using AND/OR together will both broaden the results you get (OR) but make them revelant to your topic (AND).