You will need to carefully record your search strategy to ensure it is reproducible and verifiable, especially for publication.

For each search, record:

• the name of the database
• the date you searched
• your exact search strategy, including all the terms you have used.

One way to record your searches is to save the search history from each database. To do this you will need to register or create an account with the database provider.

Here's an example:

Date: September 2024. Database: SciTech Premium Collection (ProQuest)

This can also be expressed in a linear way:

(abstract(disaster* OR earthquake* OR flood*) AND abstract((modular OR prefabricated OR prefabrication OR prefabricate OR temporary OR emergency OR "rapid deployment" OR "emergency shelter" OR "transitional shelter") NEAR/3 (house OR housing OR shelter OR construction))) AND abstract(resilien* OR durab*)

Next steps:

• You will most likely have to go back and refine your searches as new terms and subject headings present themselves as you go on.
• Then you will need to translate your search into other databases, taking into account the unique language of each database - what symbols are used for truncation, wildcards, and so on, and the thesauri terms if applicable.
• You should apply your main limits at the end of your search (language, date of publication, publication type).

Searching will be an iterative process and can be helped by keeping a search planner as a living document throughout the process. Deakin University has a suggested search planner that you could adapt. Or try the spreadsheet devised at Monash University, which has a different sheet for each database searched:

For some great examples of how to record your search framework and strategy across various disciplines and databases, see Chapter 7 of this eBook: Foster, M. J., & Jewell, S. T. (Eds.). (2017). Assembling the pieces of a systematic review: A guide for librarians. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.