How to fill out a keyword table
Synonyms /
Related Terms
Main Concepts
Main
Concept 1
Synonyms /
Related Terms
OR
OR
OR
OR
OR
OR
AND
Main
Concept 2
AND
Main
Concept 3
Focus on the main concepts first
Think about the main
concepts for this example
research topic:
How can
household solar
energy be made
more affordable?
Main Concepts
Main
Concept 1
solar
AND
Main
Concept 2
energy
AND
Main
Concept 3
affordable
Just Say No To:
• full sentences / questions
• conversational language
• filler words (such as: the, how, why …)
How can household solar energy be
made more affordable?
After identifying main concepts, think
of synonyms for each main concept
Synonyms /
Related Terms
Main Concepts
Main
Concept 1
solar
OR
sun
AND
Main
Concept 2
energy
OR
power
OR
economical
AND
Main
Concept 3
affordable
Synonyms /
Related Terms
OR
Remember:
power of the sun
is a great synonym for
solar power,
but we wouldn’t want to
OR
include
“of” or “the”
in our search!
OR
cost
Putting it all together:
(solar OR sun)
Connect synonyms with OR
AND
(energy OR power)
Connect main concepts with AND
AND
(affordable OR economical
OR cost)
Synonyms /
Related Terms
Main Concepts
Main
Concept 1
solar
Synonyms /
Related Terms
OR
sun
OR
OR
power
OR
OR
economical
OR
AND
Main
Concept 2
energy
AND
Main
Concept 3
affordable
cost
Broadening and narrowing a search:
(solar OR sun)
AND
(energy OR power)
AND
(affordable OR economical OR cost)
OR broadens a search
AND narrows a search
The importance of putting in parentheses
No parentheses vs. parentheses:
sun OR solar AND energy
You’ll retrieve:
• Every article about the
sun (too many articles!)
• Articles about solar
energy
(sun OR solar) AND energy
You’ll retrieve:
• Articles about sun
energy or solar energy