Identifying Keywords and Search Terms

There are many ways to generate keywords or search terms. A good place to start is with our research topic or question, and then find key concepts and terms related to that topic. Watch this short video (4 minutes and 32 seconds) to learn how to generate effective search terms and keywords for a topic:

"Generate Great Search Terms" Links to an external site. by Seattle Central College Library Links to an external site. is licensed under CC BY 4.0 Links to an external site.

We can follow these steps with our own research question in order to develop a list of keywords:

1. Start with the research topic or question(s).

For example: What are the effects of having gender neutral restrooms in public places? 

2. Next identify the key concepts within your topic or question. Concepts might include single words or phrases.

For example: restrooms, gender neutral

3. Now identify related keywords for each key concept. These can be synonyms, broader terms, or more specific terms to represent these concepts.

For example: 

• • restrooms: bathroom, lavatory, single stall, inclusive restroom, toilet, facilities, WC
  • gender neutral: unisex, gender, woman, man, transgender, gender identity