10. Using thesaurus terms

A thesaurus is a hierarchical arrangement of subject terms in a research database. For most thesauri, each term within the hierarchy displays the following terms ( see the example on right):

A thesaurus helps to identify additional and frequently more appropriate terms you can use for your research paper (demo: early memories search in PsycINFO).

When you enter a word or phrase that is not found in the thesaurus, the database may suggest appropriate thesaurus terms. From the list of suggested thesaurus terms, you may select a single term or multiple terms (demo: teenagers search in ERIC).