Legal Research

What are keywords? Keywords are the most important words in a research statement or question. They are the words that create significance or meaning.

Why use keywords? Keywords are important in research because they are highly useful to facilitate an online search for information. They open the doors to vast amounts of information. Keywords may also be referred to as “search terms.”

The goal of your search is to find specific, relevant results. Pay attention to the number of results your search returns. 

Consider these questions:

1. Given my topic, is this too many/few results?
2. To get more specific, relevant results, can I make my search terms more/less specific?

In legal research, your often look for very specific issues. Consider the difference between terms like "guns" and "Second Amendment"

1. Which is going to return more results
2. In a legal context, which is more likely to provide more specific, relevant results?

NOTE: If using HeinOnline (and many other databases) make sure to put search terms in quotes! This is covered under the HeinOnline page.