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Gerstein Science Information Centre

ENV341: Environment and Human Health

What should I do when I get too many results? How can I narrow to more relevant results?

  • Try searching more specific terms
  • Try searching more specific fields (e.g. title)
  • Apply limits (e.g. language, publication years, publication types, etc.)
  • Use quotation marks to keep words together as a phrase (e.g. "west nile")
  • Try sorting by "Times Cited in Web of Science or Scopus

What should I do if I get too few results? How can I expand my search?

  • Use synonyms (OR is mORe)
  • Use wildcards/truncation (e.g. climat* change*)
  • Think of different spelling, plural vs. singular --> language is variable
  • Search all fields (and not just title field)
  • Use broader terms
  • Try another database
  • Remove limits (e.g. language, publication years, etc.)
  • Look at References Cited of articles you do find

Guide to comprehensive searching