Add "quotation marks" around phrases. This tells the database (or search engine such as Google) to treat the phrase as one term (rather than searching for each word individually).
Using the "Advanced Search" option allows you to put each keyword in its own search box, which makes it easier to change out keywords for synonyms, narrower or broader terms, etc. It also gives options for limiting your search results by date, source type, and others.
Use database search tools AND, OR, and NOT (as drop downs in Advanced Search or between keywords in the search bar):
AND = will only show results that include BOTH terms
OR = will show results if they have at least one of the terms
NOT = will exclude results that use that term
Subject terms (also called "subjects" or "controlled vocabulary") are the database's "official" keywords assigned to topics. When searching with subjects, your results will most likely be more precise and relevant. You can find subject terms in a few places:
Limits can be added using Advanced Search or from the search results page. Databases usually include options to limit by:
Examples of keywords for LGBTQ+ topics:
Subject terms (or "subjects" or "controlled vocabulary") are the "official" keywords used by databases to categorize sources by topic. These are often similar to what you may come up with for keywords, but sometimes use different language (outdated terms, formal academic or scientific terms, etc.).
Here are some examples of LGBTQ+ related subject terms used by our databases:
Brainstorming topics for an assignment? Here are some examples of LGBTQ+ related research questions or topics:
Multidisciplinary database (covering most subjects) including scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, and other sources.
Project MUSE offers complete, full-text versions of scholarly journals and books from many of the world's leading university presses and scholarly societies. MUSE provides access to a growing list of scholarly open access content.
Search over 600 full text reference books for your topic. It also has article links to library databases (such as ProQuest and EBSCO).
Searches multiple databases (covering most subjects) for sources including scholarly journals, dissertations, magazines, newspapers, eBooks, and more.
Search by name or birth/death date to find narrative biographies, news, magazines, and multimedia content about current and historical figures.
Information about current social issues from topic overviews, news, opinions, pro/con essays, and other sources.
Editorially curated pro/con database featuring overviews, essential questions, viewpoints, primary sources, and secondary sources about social issues.
Independent Voices is an open access digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals, drawn from the special collections of participating libraries. These periodicals were produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBT activists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines during the latter half of the 20th century.
LGBTQ+ topics may be discussed in scholarly journals for many different subject areas. However, there are also many journals dedicated specifically to studying topics related to gender and sexuality -- especially in highly relevant disciplines such as Women & Gender Studies, Queer Studies, Feminist Studies, and Sexuality Studies.