Create your search strategy based on your thesis statement.

• Think about the concepts, keywords and synonyms that describe your topic. 
• Sample topic: Novel Psychoactive substances: what are they and how can we analyze them?
  • Category:    Psychoactive drug, ex. cannabinoids
  • Pharmacological effect :   hallucinogens, stimulants, depressants
  • origin:     natural, synthetic, semisynthetic
• Can't think of anything besides the words in your research statement?  Start with those you have. 
• Searching for articles?  Most databases have a Thesaurus.  You can view recommended and/or alternate terms.
   

What type of information do you want?

• Books, articles, websites? 
  • Some tools contain a mix of resources like books, articles, and websites.  Some search more narrowly. 
• Current or historical?  Scholarly?  Qualitative or Quantitative?  Statistics?  Primary or secondary?
  • Depending on the tool, you may be able to include this aspect within the search statement.
• Does the tool have Limit or Refine options?  Does it allow you to sort by publication year?