Was the Information Retrieval Successful?

• Think about whether your search terms are too common and use more concise ones if necessary to describe your topic more accurately. For example, specifying observations -term to visual observations.
• Remove general terms with multiple meanings if they retrieve too many irrelevant results. For example, removing management term from the search query.
• A truncated word may refer to too many things (unless there are other words limiting the topic in the query). For example, using pel* -term in Finnish brings e.g., pelko, pelot, pelto, pelti, pelaaja, pelkistää -inflected forms and variants to search results.
• Add words that limit the search (use the AND operator). For example, youth AND gaming — a third keyword can be added to the search query: youth AND gaming AND sleep.
• Sometimes it may be useful to limit the search with a term broad enough to outline the entire subject area. For example, therapy methods can provide too many results, while therapy methods AND psychology would refine your search.
• Use phrase search instead of the AND operation. For example, mental AND well-being – search query provides more results than “mental well-being” -phrase.
• Use fewer synonyms and related terms (but don’t change the OR operation to AND operation, as that would result in a defective search). For example, motivators OR incentives OR rewards — the search query could be used without the last term: motivators OR incentives
• Try excluding some words from the search with the NOT operator. For example, teachers NOT “kindergarten teachers”.
• Limit the search to the index term field if possible.
• Limit the search to the title field.
• Limit the search by year of publication, its language or type(e.g., peer-reviewed / scholarly journals).
• The search can be limited with for example, year, language or type of publication (by selecting e.g. academic/scholarly journals only) or article type (by selecting only e.g. systematic reviews or randomized controlled trials), but not all databases offer such delimitations.

• Check for spelling errors and correct written forms (compound or separate words, abbreviations etc.). For example, wellbeing, well-being or both?
• Think about the search terms you are using; perhaps you have searched with an overly specific word: what broader subject area is the subject a part of, and can a broader search term be more useful? For example, naps -term could belong under the broader sleep  concept.
• Seek synonyms and related terms for your search terms (added with the OR operation). For example, rest -term could be broadened to sleep OR rest OR relaxation -query.
• Use fewer AND operations in the search query. For example, applicability tests AND development -query could be used instead of recruiting AND applicability tests AND development -query.
• In case you have used a phrase, try disassembling it into an AND operation. For example, “psychic load” -phrase could be modified into psychic AND load -query.
• Truncate the search term to find its inflected forms and derivatives. For example, perfectionism -term’s uninflected form perfection* covers the words perfection and its inflected forms in addition to its derivatives.
• Use free-form search if you have previously used index term search (or other such restrictions). Also, remove restrictions based on years etc.

Is the search word rare?

Sometimes an individual word can be so rare in a database that no other search terms should be used alongside it. You may test how common the word is by performing a simple word search.

• try a different database
• ensure that the connections between search terms are logically correct

If there is at least one full hit, i.e., a very relevant reference, it is worth extracting the keywords used in the index term field of this reference and reorienting the search using them. You may find more suitable literature on the topic of your search from the list of references of a good article or other publication.

After reviewing your search results and identifying useful references, it’s time to locate the full publications so you can explore them in more detail. Abstracts or other summaries should never be used as sources in academic work. When searching for publications, keep in mind:

• Not all publications are available online. Printed materials are still in use, such as many books and Finnish journal articles.
• Not all online publications are freely accessible. If you’re a student at an university or an university of applied sciences, you may have remote access to your institution’s library online catalog for retrieving publications behind paywalls. Contact your library for details. At the University of Eastern Finland, the UEF Primo is used. It is freely accessible to everyone, but paid publications are available only to members of the UEF community and staff at Kuopio University Hospital (KYS).
• Your library may not have access to all possible publications. Many libraries offer an interlibrary  service, allowing you to order books and article copies from other libraries in Finland or abroad. More information is available on your library’s website or by contacting the library directly.

Availability of Book Materials

(including dissertations, theses, reports, and similar publications)

• Is the material available in your own library?
  • Check your library’s online catalog to see if the material is currently available or on loan. You can place a reservation for items that are currently checked out.
• Is the material available in electronic format?
  • Internet search engines (Google, Google Scholar) are useful for finding digital versions of dissertations and reports published by ministries and agencies. Search using the title or name of the publication.
  • Library online catalogs often include references to electronic versions. If a reference is found but no working link is provided, try searching for the publication on the Internet.
  • The material may also be available in licensed e-books provided by your library. Links to these can be found in the library online catalog.
• Is the material available in other libraries in Finland or abroad?
  • Use Finna.fi to search the collections of all Finnish university and university of applied sciences libraries, many public libraries, special libraries, and the National Repository Library. Finna also provides links to many electronic resources, such as Finnish dissertations. You can request printed materials and other publications found in Finna via interlibrary service through your own library.

Availability of Articles

• Is it a “real” journal article or a chapter in an edited volume?
  • For edited volumes, follow the same instructions as for book materials. Search using the title of the volume, as library online catalogs and Finna.fi do not index individual chapters.
• Is the article available electronically?
  • Finnish articles:
    • Open access articles can be found in Finna.fi and journal.fi. Finnish e-articles are usually not listed in library online catalogs.
  • International articles:
    • Search your library’s online catalog. Use UEF Primo if you have access. Proceed as follows:
      • Log in to UEF Primo, enter the article title or words from the title, and select International articles from the dropdown menu. You can also refine your search by adding author surnames.
      • If the article is found, it usually appears at the top of the results list. Click Näytä PDF/View PDF to access the full text.
    • If you are outside the UEF community or KYS and use the open PubMed database for health sciences, filter your search results using the Free full text filter on the left side of the results page.
    • For more tips on finding free articles, see the UEF Library blog post Free articles legally.
    • You can also try searching the Internet (Google, Google Scholar) using the article title or journal name. Sometimes journals offer free trial access.
    • Articles behind paywalls are not freely accessible unless you can log in to your library’s online catalog or UEF Primo. Individual articles can often be purchased from journal websites, but this may be expensive. Your library’s interlibrary service may offer cheaper copies. Due to copyright reasons, e-article copies are delivered as printed versions.

• Is the article available in a printed journal in your library?
  • Search your library’s online catalog using the journal title. If journals are not available for loan, you can make photocopies of the articles.
• Is the article available in printed journals in other libraries in Finland or abroad?
  • Search for the journal title in Finna.fi to find its location in Finnish libraries. You can request photocopies of articles found in Finna or other journals via your library’s interlibrary service.