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Literature Searching

Finding keywords and subject headings for database searching involves identifying key concepts from your research question and translating them into relevant terms, synonyms, and controlled vocabulary used by databases. This ensures comprehensive and accurate retrieval of literature by combining free-text keywords with standardized subject headings 

Why is finding key terms important?

  • Captures all relevant evidence
  • Includes the various ways the topics are described by previous research
  •  Uses the database's categorisation for optimised searching
  • Ensures you are conducting best practice searching

Step-by-step worksheet

As you find keywords and subject headings, record them in the Library's worksheet. The appendix includes real-world examples.

Worksheet - Literature Searching: Step by step

Recommended Resources:

Keywords are words and phrases that describe the key concepts in your research question. In scholarly literature, keywords are found in places such as the title of a paper, the abstract, and any keywords provided by the authors.

Why is using keywords important?

  • Concepts are discussed in various ways using various terms across research
  • Regional and specialty differences in terminology can be included
  • Grammatical and semantic differences are taken into account

Where to search for keywords

Keywords can be found in various sources, including:

  • Medical dictionaries, thesauri, and encyclopaedias (search the Library catalogue).
  • Concepts in a general textbook (search the Library catalogue) or clinical decision support tools to see how they are described and referred to.
  • Relevant articles on your topic for keywords and phrases the author(s) have used in the title and abstract and if there are any author-provided keywords listed -- these are often found beneath the abstract.

Including synonyms & variants

When gathering keywords, consider the following: 

Alternate spelling pediatric or paediatric
Alternate ending hospital or hospitalised or hospitalisation (or hospitalization)
Word form physiotherapy or physio therapy
Plural form child or children, woman or women
Acronym Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS
Abbreviation electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes
Terms that mean the same thing Cancer or neoplasms or tumour or tumor or carcinoma

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Subject headings are 'tags' assigned to articles by the database to categorise them by topic. They are used to describe the topics discussed within the article. Subject headings use a standardised terminology within each database to organise the content in a comprehensive way, however different databases will use their own terminology so it is not consistent between databases.

Why is using subject headings important?

  • Uses the database's own system to find research
  • Ensures that articles that don't use relevant keywords also get included
  • Reduces the risk of relevant articles being missed

How to find subject headings

Subject headings are specific to the databases they are used in:

Subject Headings in Ovid
When using MEDLINE, Embase, Emcare and PsycINFO databases through the Ovid platform, tick the 'Map Term to Subject Heading' box or click the 'Term Finder' button to search for subject headings within the database.

Subject Headings in Cochrane
Cochrane Library allows you to search for MeSH terms using the Medical Terms (MeSH) search bar or the MeSH lookup button in the Search manager bar.

Use keywords as a jumping off point to find corresponding and relevant subject headings for the databases that you are searching on. Remember to keep track of keywords and subject headings you plan to use in your search.

Examples

  • In MEDLINE you would use the MeSH term ‘Complementary Therapies’
  • In Embase you would use the Emtree term ‘alternative medicine'
  • In PsycINFO you would use the APA term 'Alternative Medicine'

Recommended Resources:

Health Databases Overview

Combining search terms is critical to creating a meaningful and comprehensive search. How the key terms are read and applied by the database to produce results. 

Why is combining search terms important?

  • Dictates the scope of your search
  • Creates the relation between your search terms
  • Tells the database exactly what kind of papers you would like to find

How to combine search terms

Two small words -- AND and OR -- are the most common and powerful way to combine search terms. 

OR - broadens your search by finding papers that contain any of your terms e.g. stroke OR cerebrovascular accident. Use OR to combine similar terms, such as synonyms or spelling variations of the same word (paediatric OR pediatric).
AND - narrows your search by only finding papers that contain both terms e.g. stroke AND aspirin. Use AND to combine different terms or concepts.

Recommended Resources:

Pre-built searches are established searches which have been designed to search for specific types of papers. For example, papers of a particular methodological design (e.g. RCTs) or specific health subject area. You can incorporate relevant pre-built searches into your own literature search. Pre-built searches are also referred to as search filters, search hedges, or clinical queries.

Note: Pre-built searches are developed for use in one or more specific databases. I.e. a pre-built search for PubMed cannot be used in Ovid Embase.

Why use pre-built searches?

  • They are usually developed by experts.
  • They have often been validated to ensure that they are effective and do not miss relevant papers.
  • They are a quick and efficient way to search for common medical topics and study designs.

Subject Filters

NSQHS Standards – Live Literature Searches

Topics aligned to the Australian National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards. Easy to use, one click brings up results in PubMed.
Expert Searches - Ovid Medline & Embase

A range of current health topics including Monkeypox, covid, measles, sepsis, health literacy, gender, children, elderly, pregnancy, adverse effects, pharmacovigilance. Also includes study design filters for Medline and Embase. Quick and easy to use, one click opens search in Ovid platform.
Flinders Filters Subject filters such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, dementia, heart failure, lung cancer, stroke etc.
Care Search Palliative Care Also includes the Heart Failure Search Filter, the Lung Cancer Search Filter, the Dementia Search Filter and the Bereavement Search Filter, for Ovid Medline and for PubMed, as well as the palliAGED Residential Aged Care Search Filter.
Lowitja Institute  Pre-built PubMed searches for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health literature.
Topic-Specific PubMed Queries Includes subject based filters on topics such as bioethics, cancer, health literacy, toxicology.

Study Design Filters

These pre-built filters can be added to your search to narrow the results to a specific study design, e.g. clinical trials, systematic reviews, meta-analysis, observational, qualitative, health technology assessments etc.

CADTH Search Filters Database Developed by the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health. Filters for study designs as well as subjects including adverse events, quality of life, economic, guidelines. Different database translations. Quick and easy to use.
The ISSG Search Filter Resource  Developed for research groups within England and Scotland. Filters for study designs as well as subjects including quality of life, guidelines, age, gender, sample size. Different database translation.
PubMed Clinical Queries Refine PubMed searches based on theory, etiology, diagnosis, prognosis and clinical prediction guide queries. Note: The Systematic Reviews filter is on the main PubMed search results page - under the "Article Type" filter
Expert Searches - Ovid Medline & Embase Systematic Review, RCT and Observational study design filters for MEDLINE and Embase. Quick and easy to use, one click opens search in Ovid platform.

Considerations when using pre-built search filters

  • Is it relevant to your research question?
  • If you are conducting a systematic review, is it relevant to your inclusion criteria?
  • Is it current? Subject headings and database features can change over time.
  • Has it been validated?
  • Was it created by an expert information manager/librarian or research group?