What Are the Five Steps to Effective Literature Search?
Steps to Effective Literature Search
Before you begin your search, you should understand that the literature is a complex mixture of sources. There are two types of primary sources: peer-reviewed research published in books and journals, and online databases that contain published works. Pubmed is a good example of an online database because it contains nearly 27 million citations in the biomedical field, while PsycINFO has over 3 million records on topics in psychology. Education Resources Information Center has 1.5 million records of educational research literature.
Once you know what to look for, you must plan and prepare your literature search strategies. To do this, you should follow the steps listed below. Read the relevant sections of guidance documents and re-read them to determine whether they contain useful information. This process should be transparent and thorough. In addition, you should not miss any relevant studies. This article will explore the five steps to effective literature search and provide some tips for preparing for it.
Narrowing down your topic is the first step of an effective literature search. After you have a clear idea of what you are researching, begin your search by identifying the sources of relevant information. Use keywords to identify related concepts, theories, and studies. Use synonyms and related terms when necessary. Then, expand your search by using new keywords or narrow your search by adding boolean operators. You will then have a database of relevant resources.
What Are the Five Steps to Effective Literature Search?
Reading relevant literature is just as important as conducting your research. It keeps you informed, gives you direction, and gives your research meaning. To begin your search, make sure you formulate a research question that is relevant and a valid one. A literature search handbook provides tips and suggestions to help you conduct your research properly. It can save you a lot of stress. So, what are the five steps to effective literature search?
search strategy for literature review
Prior to developing a search strategy, you should conduct a scoping exercise. While most published studies do not report on the results of scoping exercises, you can use tools such as clustering documents, text mining, and word frequency analysis to identify potential study areas and search terms. The results of this exercise can help you determine which studies to review and which to discard. The literature search guide should also help you develop an appropriate methodology for your research.