Week 8

CHAPTER: 8 KEYWORDS
• DEFINITIONS OF KEYWORD:
1- ACCORDING TO CAMBRIDGE DICTIONARY: A word that you type
into a computer so that the computer will find information that contains
that word
2- ACCORDING TO MERRIAM WEBSTER : A Significant word from a
title or document used especially as an index to content
• DEFINING A KEYWORD :
Keywords are simply relevant terms used to describe the content of the
article. A keyword search will generally search the title and abstract fields of
the records in a database and may also search other fields
It is important to include alternative spellings and synonyms for your
keywords to retrieve all articles on your topic
The keywords used for literature could strongly affect the results of your research.
Researchers often begin a search in ERIC using keywords they use to describe their
topic. The researcher types these keywords in ERIC to tell the computer what to
search for. The selection of keywords is somewhat of an art form. If the keyword is
too general, too many references may be located, many of which are likely to be
irrelevant. If the keyword is too narrow, too few references will be located, and many
of those applicable to the research question may be missed. Furthermore, if the
keyword used is not the same or similar to the descriptors used by the system to
describe the topic, then few or no search results will be found. Keywords and
descriptors can be used singly or in various combinations to locate references.
Certain key words, called Boolean operators, enable the retrieval of terms in various
combinations. The most commonly used Boolean operators are and or. For example,
by asking a computer to search for a single keyword or descriptor such as inquiry,
all references containing this term would be selected. By connecting two keywords
or descriptors with the word and, however, researchers can narrow the search to
locate only the references that contain both of the descriptors.
Asking the computer to search for questioning techniques and history instruction
would narrow the search because only references containing both keywords or
descriptors would be located. On the other hand, by using the word or, a search can
be broadened, since any references with either one of the keywords or descriptors
would be located. Thus, asking the computer to search for questioning techniques or
history instruction would broaden the search because references containing either
one of these terms would be located
PURPOSE OF KEYWORD:
Websites can be searched easily using a search engine and keywords. literature
search is an important part of research writing. When you conduct a literature search
online, you should be able to dig out relevant published articles. The purpose of
keywords in a research paper is to help other researchers find your paper when they
are conducting a search on the topic. Keywords define the field, subfield, topic,
research issue etc. that are covered by the article. Most electronic search engines,
databases, or journal websites use keywords to decide whether and when to display
your paper to interested readers. Keywords make your paper searchable and ensure
that you get more citations. Thus, it is important to include the most relevant
keywords that will help other authors find your paper
IDENTIFICATION OF KEYWORDS :
Every C word is classified as either a keyword or identifier. All keywords have fixed
meanings and these meanings cannot be changed
E.g. auto, break, void etc.
RULES TO IDENTIFY KEYWORDS :
1. Start thinking about the terms you use to search for papers related to your topic.
Possibly these are the terms used by other researchers for searching the topic of
your interest. These terms can be ideal keywords for your Research Article.
2. keywords should ideally be phrases of 2-3 words; No doubt you can give single
word keyword but it may lead to many false matches. Note that actually
keywords are not simply set of words instead they are phrases.
3. Do not use words or phrases from the title as keywords. Keywords should
contain a list of words that supplement your title’s content. This
is because most of the search engines and journal databases use Research
Title for indexing purpose.
4. Keywords should contain words and phrases that suggest what the topic is
about. Also include words and phrases that are closely related to your topic.
(For example, if the paper is about Image Processing for Leaf Spot
Identification and Disease Classification use words like Plant Pathology,
Bacterial Blight in pomegranate, Leaf Disease spot Identification etc.
*REFERENCES :
1- Vijay Rajpurohit
http://www.researchvoyage.com/top-10-rules-to-identify-keywords-for-your-research-paper/
2.https://www.editage.com/insights/what-is-the-importance-of-keywords-in-a-research-paper#
3.Jack R. Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E. & Hyun, H. H. (2012) How to Design and Evaluate
Research in Education (8th edition) New York: McGraw-Hill.

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CHAPTER: 8 KEYWORDS

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