Training Public International Law: 2. Search terms

Thinking up the right search terms is one of the major parts of your search strategy.

Go looking for corresponding terms for each part of your search question. Don't forget:

• ​synonyms (house / dwelling)
• broader terms (university / higher education)
• narrower terms (children / toddlers)
• related terms (training / coaching)
• antonyms (terms with opposite meanings, such as parent/child or poverty/wealth
• persons and organisations of importance to your subject
• terms indicating space and time (for instance eras, centuries, names of places, countries)
• avoid bias in your search terms, it might colour the outcome of your search

And also think of the different word forms:

• singular/plural
• verb conjugations
• nouns/adjectives
• different spelling (labor / labour or organisation / organization)
• abbreviations
• translations into languages which are relevant to your subject and discipline

Correct your search terms along the way. If you do so from the very start, you will soon see which (new) terms produce the right results, and which terms don't. Repeat this method as long as it takes.

You don't have to reinvent the wheel. Use resources:

• words from an exploratory search from, for instance, Wikipedia or handbooks
• words from earlier found sources, for instance words from the title or abstract or keywords given by the author
• dictionaries
• thesauri (overviews of selected words or concepts and their mutual relations within a particular field of interest or discipline, often included in large, subject specific databases)

Mindmapping is a nice technique  that can help you specify your research question. This video explains how.

Specific search terms for Public International Law Sources could be:

• Document symbol (number of a resolution, treaty etc.; for example: GA Res. 41/133, 4 December 1986)
• Title/title words of a regulation (for example: Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties)
• Official citation (for example: 155 UNTS 331)
• Are you looking for literature on sources, search on number (document symbol) or citation as well

Specific search terms for case law could be:

• subject. A subject can be specified:  
  •  by the number of the legislation
  •  in words (think of word varieties, synonyms, broader/narrower terms, keep in mind the context of your subject within your discipline, abbreviations and other languages, see the explanation below)
• name of the case or of the parties involved (for example: Obligation to Negotiate Access to the Pacific Ocean (Bolivia v. Chile))
• Citation, for example: [1949] ICJ Rep 4
• If you are looking for literature on case law, also try the name of the case or the citation

If you are searching for literature at a basic level (or introductory level) you can add search terms such as 'introduction' or 'orientation' or 'overview' or 'review'. 

Preferably you would like these words to occur in a title or in an abstract. In many search engines you will find an 'advanced search' option through which you can specify your query.