Library Services
This guide © 2024 by UCL - Library Skills is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Searching is an iterative process - you will need to examine and assess your results, and review and revise your search accordingly.
There is no such thing as a 'perfect search' or a perfect set of results. Furthermore, the number of results you should be aiming for will vary, depending on the nature of your work. You might be looking for just a few reliable articles to support an assignment - or you might be undertaking a systematic review, for which you might retrieve hundreds, sometimes thousands of results.
Don't forget you can always consult a librarian for help.
Often, people find they have too many results. Consider:
Bibliographic databases contain hundreds of thousands of records. If your search only brings back a handful, its likely you're not finding everything you could.
If you have found some results but they are not what you are looking for: