Use the following to connect your search terms:

• AND - Connecting your search terms with AND narrows your search.  Each search result entry will contain ALL of your search terms.

e.g., each search result for the search exxon AND marine mammals will contain both the term exxon and the term marine mammals

• OR - Connecting your search terms with OR broadens your search. Each search result entry will contain one or more of your search terms.

e.g., each search result for the search exxon OR oil spills will contain the term exxon or the term oil spills or both of these terms

Try:

• Adding a search term. 

            e.g., instead of exxon and marine mammals, try exxon and marine mammals and toxicity

• Taking away an ored term from your search.

            e.g., instead of (exxon or oil spills) and marine mammals, try exxon and marine mammals

• Searching specific fields (e.g., search by subject or title).

• Replacing a truncated term with a specific search term.

   e.g., instead of exxon and marine mammal*, try exxon and marine mammals

Try:

• Taking away one of your search terms.

             e.g., instead of exxon and marine mammals and toxicity, try exxon and marine mammals

• Adding an ored term to your search.

             e.g., instead of exxon and marine mammals, try (exxon or oil spills) and marine mammals

• Not searching specific fields.

• Truncating one or more terms in your search.

             e.g., instead of exxon and marine mammals, try exxon and marine mammal*

Some strategies if you are still not finding enough journal articles:

• If you found one relevant article in a journal index, and then you found one or two good "related records" using the Web of Science, search for the Web of Science titles in the original journal index.  Then check the subject terms assigned to those articles.  This may help you to discover some other good subject terms to use.
• Do a keyword search in the Web of Science and/or Google Scholar, and then search for relevant titles in your search results in one of the suggested journal indexes.  Again, this may help you to discover some other good subject terms to use.
• If you have tried searching in a journal index and in the Web of Science, and you still have not found enough journal articles, try searching one of the other suggested journal indexes.