Citation Justice

Experiment with keywords: You can use Boolean operators to develop a search strategy that incorporates multiple different keywords that may relate to your topic. As you search, note any terms that might relate to your research topic that you may not have initially identified. Different communities may use different terms, and the way that certain concepts, persons, communties are named can change over time. It is important to note that this means you may encounter results that use language and terminology that is outdated, racist, and problematic. 

Learn more about the authors: Some materials may include positionality statements or other information about the author(s). You can also search for an author to see if it is possible to learn more about their background and identity. This might include sources like profiles on university websites, the author's own personal website, social media, blogs, etc.

Look at who authors are working with and citing: If you've found authors who are doing work in the area of your research, try searching for their works to identify collaborators and to see who they are citing.

Try different sorting and filtering options for your results: The default sorting mode for many search tools is relevance, but how relevance is determined is often unclear. What is considered the most relevant result may differ for two searchers using the same search tool and same search terms. Try sorting by publication date or newest to see how this changes your results. You may have filtering options available that can help focus your search, such as subject headings.

Note limitations around language and geographical representation: Academic libraries and databases based in North America and English-speaking European countries may have limited non-English material. They may also 

Adapted from: Rowan University's Inclusive Citation guide