Search Tips - NUTR 430 - Community Nutrition (Fall 2025) - Research Guides at Texas A&M University

Database Searching

Keyword Searching	Subject Headings
Keywords describe your topic in natural language and can be combined in any number of ways. This is the most common approach to beginning the research process. It does not consider word meaning or context. Databases search for keywords anywhere in a source's record (title, author name, abstract, subject heading, etc.), which often produces too many, too few, or irrelevant results.	Subject Headings make-up a controlled vocabulary used by databases to describe content and organize sources. They merge synonyms and like terms, topics, and concepts under a single term. These are pre-defined words, not natural language (look for a database's Subjects or Thesaurus link to reveal its unique list of subjects - they can differ between databases). These usually produce very relevant results.

More search tips can be found on the Library Tutorials page.

Boolean Operators

Use AND to connect keywords and refine your search (retrieves sources with both terms)
Use OR to connect keywords and broaden your search (retrieves sources with either term)
Use NOT to exclude a word e.g., Omega-3 fatty acids NOT Fish oils
Use quotation marks to retrieve sources with a phrase in the exact order typed e.g., "Community health"

PubMed & MeSH

MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) is the National Library of Medicine's (NLM) controlled vocabulary. NLM is the producer of MEDLINE, which is the primary component of PubMed. MeSH terms are assigned to articles based on content. When searching PubMed, we encourage you to use MeSH, as these terms will help you target your search.

MeSH terms clarify context (topical and grammatical)
MeSH terms include synonyms and related terms

In PubMed, select MeSH from the search bar's drop-down menu, or select the MeSH Database link under More Resources to discover MeSH term(s).