Keyword: a specific and significant word that describes a topic and would appear in discussions of the topic.
Reference source: Usually an encyclopedia or dictionary, a reference source provides background information. At the college level, look for discipline-specific background sources (from a specific subject like psychology, criminal justice etc.) rather than general reference sources like Encyclopedia Britannica.
Database: A database is an organized, searchable collection of information. Databases might be discipline (subject) specific or include many subjects. They might contain data, articles, books or other types of information. Databases allow you to narrow your search by many factors; it’s recommended you use these limiters.
Peer-reviewed: Peer-review is the process of vetting academic research before publication by sending out submitted articles to other experts in the field for comments and evaluation. Reviewers suggest changes and ensure the information is of the highest quality before it can be published in a scholarly journal.
Subject Term: Subject terms are assigned to all articles in a database to describe what they’re about using standard “tags.” The subject terms may not always be obvious or use the same language you would to describe a topic, but using them makes your search efficient by returning results about that assigned subject term.