Troubleshooting Irrelevant Search Results In Academic Databases

Troubleshooting Irrelevant Search Results in Academic Databases

Have you ever typed what seemed like a perfectly good search into a database—only to get results that are completely off-topic?

This video will explain why searches sometimes go wrong, how to assess and troubleshoot a search, and a real example of how to fix it.

Part 1: Why You're Getting Irrelevant Results

Let’s start by looking at the common culprits behind irrelevant results:

Too broad or too vague terms. Words like impact, effect, or issue are often used in many contexts — and may not narrow your search enough.

Other terms, like “social network” can have multiple meanings and retrieve irrelevant results; for example, referring to social media or any group of interacting people.

Too narrow or specific terms. Terms like screen-induced anxiety in Canadian teens might be so specific that nothing matches exactly, even if related research exists.

Mismatched vocabulary. You’re using one term, but scholars and databases use another. For instance, you search “teenagers,” but academic articles say “adolescents” or “youth.”

Poor search logic. Incorrect use of Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) or search modifiers (like quotation marks) can confuse the database and limit your results. For example:

anxiety OR depression AND social media

Without parentheses, the database may misinterpret the search, returning articles about both depression and social media, as well as unrelated ones about anxiety. This can lead to a large, mostly irrelevant results list.
You can fix this by adding parentheses around anxiety OR depression to group them together, and place social media in quotation marks to search the two words together as a phrase.

Part 2: How to Assess the Search

(anxiety OR depression) AND “social media”

Now that we know what might go wrong, how do you diagnose the problem? Find clues by understanding why irrelevant results were retrieved.

Ask yourself:

Do the results have anything in common? Even if they’re not what you wanted, do they hint at which keywords might be problematic? Do they suggest a different angle or vocabulary?

Are the keywords appropriate? Are they too vague, too broad, or using non-academic language? Do they fail to take pluralization or spelling variations into account? Am I using the right Boolean logic and search modifiers? Are my ANDs, ORs, and parentheses placed properly? Have I applied wildcards and quotation marks appropriately?

Part 3: Example – Fixing a Broken Search

Let’s say you're researching:

“How social media affects teenagers’ mental health.”

Your first search may be:

social media AND mental health AND teenagers

Take a look at the results: Articles on adult mental health, social media marketing, and unrelated mental illness topics.

Click on a title to view the full record of one of the results, compare the highlighted keywords with your search, and identify possible reasons you got the results you did.

Let’s analyze:

“Teenagers” might not be the only term used in the academic literature. We can change the search query to

(teenagers OR adolescents OR youth)

We can further improve this search by using wildcards to account for pluralizations and alternate spellings:

(teenager* OR adolescen* OR youth)

“Social media” is broad. Take a look at the subject headings in the records to see what else you could use. "online social networks" as an additional term.

We may also want to search for specific social networks such as Instagram or TikTok.

“Mental health” is also broad. Let’s add some specific mental health issues:

(“mental health” OR depression OR anxiety)

Let’s rewrite the search:

("online social network*" OR "social media" OR Instagram OR TikTok) AND ("mental health" OR depression OR anxiety) AND (adolescent* OR teenager* OR youth)

Now we’re using broader vocabulary, synonyms, and clean logic.

Results: Articles specifically about adolescent use of social media and links to anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues.

Search results still not working? Repeat the process to identify what may be causing the disconnect between your search query and the results. Or you may want to try a different database. Check out the library’s database list and search by subject area.  

Remember: If your search isn’t working, don’t assume there’s nothing out there. Often, it just means the database needs clearer instructions.

Be flexible, think like a detective, and try different word combinations.

Need more help?  Refer to the linked resources in the video description on YouTube. Or connect with us by email, chat, or drop-by at the ask us desk at the front of the library.