Identify keywords for your topic and brainstorm narrower, broader, and related terms.
Example: Factors that affect academic performance in first-generation college students.
Academic Performance | College | First-Generation Students |
Student Success | Higher Education | Children of Immigrants |
Student Achievement | University | Minority Students |
Learning Outcomes | Community College | Nontraditional Students |
Typing the Boolean Operators AND, OR, and NOT into the library catalog or databases allow you to broaden or narrow your results.
Add more keywords.
Adding additional keywords to your search can help to further narrow your topic.
Example: college AND first-generation students AND academic performance
Use OR.
Broaden your search by using OR to link your terms.
Example: (college OR higher education OR university) AND first-generation students AND (academic performance OR student success)
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