Identifying proper keywords for searching databases is one of the first steps in your research. You may start with the main concepts in your question or topic and through iterative search process locate additional synonyms to modify your search for more comprehensive or more precise results.
Example topic: obtaining evidence from smart home apps through digital forensics
1. Start with a simple Google Scholar search, e.g. smart home digital forensics evidence. Review the results. Find an article or two that seem to be relevant for your research topic. Click on Available Now @UTSA link on the right-hand side to access full text if available.
2. Review the article to get ideas for additional keywords representing main concepts from your topic that you may use in further searching.
| smart home | evidence | digital forensics |
|
home automation smart sensors Internet of Things IoT |
criminal evidence crime investigation
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network forensics IoT forensics cloud forensics |
3. Re-run Google Scholar search with additional keywords and operators such as " ". (See search tips on Getting Started page).
"smart home" OR "home automation" AND "digital forensics" AND evidence
4. If your topic is new and not much is written about it, add a broader concept, e.g. "smart home" OR IoT OR "Internet of Things"
5. Apply Date filters on the left to limit results to specific time period.
6. Click on Cited By to find articles citing this article.
7. If you are using EndNote, you may export your citations and articles into EndNote.
8. Move on to UTSA Databases (see Getting Started page) for more comprehensive searching.
Explore the web and literature for background information on your topic to identify additional terms for your search.
For example, specifying a narrow computer forensic field may yield additional or more precise results:
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Browser Forensics Computer Forensics Cloud Forensics Cyber Forensics Data Forensics / Forensic Data Analysis (FDA) Database forensics Digital Forensics Digital Image Forensics Digital Audio Forensics Digital Video Forensics |
Email Forensics Forensic Data Analysis IoT Forensics Malware Forensics Memory forensics Mobile Devices Forensics Network Forensics Server Forensics Software-defined Networking Forensics (SDN forensics) |