Public Health Sciences: Creating Search Strategies

When choosing which articles to use for your research project, keep in mind CRAAP:

• C – Currency (Is this article current?)
• R – Relevance (Is this article relevant to the topic?)
• A – Authority (Is the author of this article qualified to write this?)
• A – Accuracy (Is the information presented in the article accurate? Are they citing their information?)
• P – Purpose (What is the author’s purpose in writing this article? Is there any bias, or are they trying to sell anything?)

1. Select a topic
2. Do a quick keyword search - is there research on this topic? If YES, continue. If NO, revise topic.
3. Write out a research question for your topic
4. Identify key concepts in your research question
5. Identify the databases you will need to search, depending on your topic
6. Use your key concepts to write a search strategy, adding alternative terms and phrasing
7. Combine these terms using boolean operators and truncation characters, crafting a strategy that you can use in multiple databases
8. Search the databases you identified, revising your search as needed
9. Click the "Find Full Text @ Clemson Libraries" link to quickly access the full text or order articles from Resource Sharing
10. Contact your subject librarian if you need any help!

RQ= How are advances in technology impacting how lower limb prosthetics are designed for children?

Search strategy:

(Child* OR kid* OR pediatric* OR paediatric*) AND ("lower limb" OR "lower extremity" OR foot OR feet OR ankle*OR leg*) AND ((prosthetic* OR prosthesis OR "artificial limb") AND (design OR development OR innovation)) AND (technolog* OR digital OR computer OR software)