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Global Conflict and Human Security (GCHS)

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The UNH Library search box provides one-stop searching for books and e-books; articles in newspapers, journals, and magazines; and streaming video and audio - it searches multiple databases at once.

To get relevant results, click on Advanced Search and use the Ways to Search with Keywords, Limiting Your Search Results, and Search Tips & Tricks below to research like a pro!

  • If you're not sure which search terms to use, try Google Scholar to start - its natural language searching may bring back articles using terms you never thought of!

Google Scholar (GS) is useful for specific kinds of searching

  • When you don't know the right terms to search, GS uses natural language searching which can help you fish around for useful search terms. 
  • When you find one great article, you can use GS - type in the article title, then in the listing click "cited by" to see who has cited that article in their more recent one.
  • When you want to look for unpublished articles or other grey literature.

Please note: you can search it like and advanced search in a database, using AND, OR, or NOT to search.

Use GS settings to choose UNH Library!

  • That will show you what you have access to via UNH Library in the right column.

Searching in Databases

Search Tips & Tricks

Use 2 or 3 significant words or terms from your research topic. Use the connector "and" to retrieve records with all the keywords you list to focus and narrow your results

  • dating and culture and college

Develop synonyms and alternative terms. Use the connector "or" indicate that any one of the terms listed needs to be in the results shown; this usually increases the number of relevant results

  • Greek life or fraternities or sororities
  • exercise or physical activity

 Try a broader concept if a specific term doesn't retrieve enough results

  •  instead of UNH, try college or university (or their plurals)

Try a more specific aspect or element if you get too many results with a very broad concept

  • instead of alternative medicine, search a specific type such as acupuncture or homeopathy

Use quotation marks to indicate a phrase

  • "farmers market"

Use an asterisk * to pick up words with the same stem but different endings

  • "ethnograph** returns ethnography, ethnographic, ethnographers

Look for new words or terms to search when reviewing your results or reading the full-text article.

Searching by the subjects assigned to articles helps

  • identify articles in which the subject is a main focus and not just not just a passing reference
  • pull together results on same concept even if author uses different terms in title or abstract
    • the subject "capital punishment" will retrieve articles using the term "death penalty" as well as those using "capital punishment"
  • when a keyword may have multiple meanings or a more general meaning
    • the subject "flow (conscious state)" will get more relevant results than just searching the keyword "flow"

Look at the subject terms in records for articles that fit your topic closely and search those subjects for more articles

Use the thesaurus available in some databases to see if your keywords are subjects or if alternative terms are used

  • Sociological Abstracts uses "Alternative Medicine" as a subject but not "Alternative Healers"

Thesaurus may offer related or narrower terms that may be useful

  • In Sociological Abstracts, the subject "Sex Offenders" has as related terms "Child Sexual Abuse," "Rape," and "Sexual Assault"

Some specialized databases allow you to limit your search in other useful ways: educational level, language, etc.

Limiter options vary by database:

  • check the advanced search screen
  • view the limiters to the left or right on the search results page.

Make connections through ideas and concepts rather than specific words

Look at the reference list at the end of a relevant scholarly article you found. This may lead you to earlier articles related to your topic. Search the UNH Library catalog by the name of the journal to see if we have the article online or in print.

Check "Times CIted" links, if available, in databases such as Sociological Abstracts to identify some newer articles citing the article in the database record. This may lead to related relevant articles.

Use Web of Science and Google Scholar to follow citations from published articles to identify older and newer related articles across many disciplinary fields in the sciences, social sciences, and arts & humanities.

Google Scholar results include "Cited By" links to articles, books, presentations, and more. Note that not all links go to peer-reviewed publications.

What else have the author(s) published on this topic? Search their names in the relevant database or look for their CV (curriculum vita) online.

Subject-specific journals may publish articles on similar topics, so try searching within specific journal titles that you see appearing frequently in your search results.

How To: Advanced Search

Prepare to use ADVANCED search techniques:

  • Pull out the main ideas from your research question.
  • Brainstorm synonyms, antonyms, or other similar terms

Then use these techniques in Advanced Search:

To bring back articles with all the main ideas do this - 

  • On the first line in Advanced Search, put one main idea. Add other terms for that idea on the same line with OR between each term.
  • On the second line, put a different main idea and add other terms for that idea on the same line with OR between each term.
  • Do the same on the third line.
  • IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMON PHRASES of two words or more, put "" around the phrase to bring back results that have that phrase.

Hit search.

  • Not enough results? Try less specific terms, or delete the line with the least important idea.
  • Too many results? Add another main idea/population/other term on another line, or remove some of your less relevant synonyms/similar terms on one of the lines.
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