Find Scholarly Articles

Keywords are words that can appear anywhere in an article including the title or the article text. You'll use keywords to search all of the library databases.

Before you search, try to think of keywords and related terms that describe and relate to your topic. For example, if you are researching depression in new moms, you might use postpartum, mothers, infants, depression, baby blues, PPD, postpartum depression, babies, postnatal, after birth, moms, or newborns.

Keyword Tips

• When it comes to searching academic databases, use scientific language.
  • Example: search for "children" rather than "kids"
• Identify a few keywords and search using only those words
  • Example search: depression postpartum mothers
• Don't search for a specific question.
  • Example search: "depressed moms" 
  • Incorrect search: "Why are new moms depressed?"
• Make sure terms are spelled correctly
• Include other terms that might also apply to, or describe your topic. 
  • Example: If you want to find articles about teenagers, you should also use the terms adolescents and young adults.
• Read an encyclopedia article on your topic to get ideas for other keywords.

You can also ask the library staff or your instructor for suggestions on keywords to use. 

EBSCOhost is a collection of full text databases, including Academic Search Premier, Business Source Complete, Business Wire News, CINAHL Complete, Clinical Reference Systems, Health Source, MasterFILE Premier, Newspaper Source, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, PsycINFO, and Sociological Collection.

As you can see from the names of the databases within EBSCOhost, it has articles on many different topics. If you are unsure where to begin researching a subject, this is a great place to start.