Search Like a Pro

Find what you need in minutes with better keywords, Google search operators and Google Scholar.

About 20 minutes

Start with better keywords

Search engines match words, not questions. Turn your topic into its key terms:

Instead of	Search
What are the effects of youth unemployment in Nigeria?	youth unemployment Nigeria effects
How does mobile money help small businesses?	mobile money small business growth

Then try synonyms: unemployment / joblessness, small business / SME / micro-enterprise. Different words find different sources.

Use search operators

These work in Google's search box and save a lot of scrolling:

Operator	What it does	Example
`"quotes"`	Exact phrase	`"youth unemployment rate"`
`site:`	Only one website or domain	`unemployment site:nigerianstat.gov.ng`
`filetype:`	Only a file type	`SME survey filetype:pdf`
`-`	Leave a word out	`jaguar -car`
`OR`	Either word	`SME OR "small business"`
`before:` / `after:`	By date	`fintech Nigeria after:2023`

Combine them: "mobile money" Nigeria site:.gov.ng filetype:pdf.

Search where the research is

For assignments you usually need academic sources:

Google Scholar (scholar.google.com) searches journal articles, theses and books. Click Cited by to find newer work that builds on an article, and use All versions to find a free PDF.
Your school library portal often gives free access to databases your lecturers expect you to use.
Official statistics come from the organisation itself: the National Bureau of Statistics, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the World Bank, the WHO.

Refine as you go

Good searching is a loop: search, skim the results, notice the words experts use, search again with those words. Five focused searches beat one vague search and fifty open tabs.

Try it

Take a research topic you need, or one you're curious about.
Write it as 3–5 keywords, plus two synonyms.
Search Google with an exact phrase in quotes and a site: filter.
Search the same keywords in Google Scholar and open one article's Cited by list.
Note the two best sources you found and the search that found them.

Earn your badge

Take the module check

Five quick questions about this module. Pass and you earn the Smart Search badge, free.

Create a free account to earn the badge

Start with better keywords

Search engines match words, not questions. Turn your topic into its key terms:

Instead of	Search
What are the effects of youth unemployment in Nigeria?	youth unemployment Nigeria effects
How does mobile money help small businesses?	mobile money small business growth

Then try synonyms: unemployment / joblessness, small business / SME / micro-enterprise. Different words find different sources.

Use search operators

These work in Google's search box and save a lot of scrolling:

Operator	What it does	Example
`"quotes"`	Exact phrase	`"youth unemployment rate"`
`site:`	Only one website or domain	`unemployment site:nigerianstat.gov.ng`
`filetype:`	Only a file type	`SME survey filetype:pdf`
`-`	Leave a word out	`jaguar -car`
`OR`	Either word	`SME OR "small business"`
`before:` / `after:`	By date	`fintech Nigeria after:2023`

Combine them: "mobile money" Nigeria site:.gov.ng filetype:pdf.

Search where the research is

For assignments you usually need academic sources:

Google Scholar (scholar.google.com) searches journal articles, theses and books. Click Cited by to find newer work that builds on an article, and use All versions to find a free PDF.

Your school library portal often gives free access to databases your lecturers expect you to use.

Official statistics come from the organisation itself: the National Bureau of Statistics, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the World Bank, the WHO.

Try it

Take a research topic you need, or one you're curious about.

Write it as 3–5 keywords, plus two synonyms.

Search Google with an exact phrase in quotes and a site: filter.

Search the same keywords in Google Scholar and open one article's Cited by list.

Note the two best sources you found and the search that found them.