When searching a periodical database, like ProQuest or Academic Search Premier, your goal is to get a reasonable number (around 50) of highly relevant articles. To do this, use the Advanced Search feature to combine keywords (names, places, events, ideas, synonyms, etc.) specific to your topic. Before you start your search, examine your research topic, and generate a list of keywords to use and combine in your searches. You'll find that some combinations work better than others, depending on the database. Be sure to combine words that make sense.
Some examples:
Use other features in the databases to focus your searches. You can:
Continue to find keywords that relate to your topic. When you are searching for sources, do not keep using the same two words over and over. You want to explore your topic from various angles; trying new and different keywords will help that process. This means you might want to replace a keyword with a more specific term or with a broader term. Be bold and creative with your search terms!
A good place to find more keywords is, when you find an article, look at the information on the record. Here's an example from Academic Search Premier:
