How to do a literature review: Literature Searching

Searching to find materials for the review can include a range of search steps and resources.

• Commercial subscription database searches (PsycINFO, Philosopher's Index, etc.) to find articles.
• Internet searching (Google Scholar, etc.)
• Database searching for books, dissertations (KentLINK, WorldCat, OhioLink, etc.)
• Browsing in sections of bookshelves in the library
• References related to the search (e.g. snowballing, pearl growing, cited reference searching)
• Websites (organization sites, government sites, web pages, etc.)
• Conference proceedings (professional organizations, etc.)
• Contacting experts, individual scholars, or organizations
• "Hand searching" of journals

Most of what is discussed on this page involves searching for articles.

What is a subscsription "research database"?  KSU subscribes to well over 400 databases.

• Many or most are used to identify articles in the professional literature.
• Are usually discipline/subject specific.
• File of bibliographic records (citations).
• Article descriptions with searchable data elements:
  • Author
  • Title
  • Source
  • Abstract
  • Keywords
  • Subject headings
• KSU offers access to numerous research databases. Follow this link to alphabetical and subject lists of databases!

Google Scholar also is a research database.  It is great for initial "scoping searches" or to supplement searching in subject specific databases. On the left side of the screen, to the left of "My profile", click on the small "stack" of 3 horizontal lines to see a search box for "Advanced Search" options.

Search effectively!

Try using a search strategy worksheet to identify key concepts in your topic:

• Write out a clear, detailed statement of your topic.
• Identify the concepts embodied in the topic statement.
• List words which authors would use to describe your topic concepts.
• Build a search from the concept words.

Use these connector words in your search statement:  

AND                           

• Combines different concepts. 
• Retrieves bibliographic records containing ALL concept words.

OR

• Use for concept synonyms.
• Retrieves all records containing at least one of the concept words.
• Truncation is a special case -- use * or $ with root word.
• Look for subject headings for concepts with many synonyms.

NOT

• Eliminates unrelated search concepts when search word has multiple senses.
• Use with caution!

See this handout for examples of the use of Boolean connectors:

This is one explanation of hand-searching - provided by Rutgers University Libraries.  The focus in this case is medical research, although hand-searching can be used in all disciplines.

"Hand-searching is a manual process of screening pre-defined and pre-selected peer-reviewed biomedical journals, conference proceedings and other publications for relevant materials that have been missed during the indexing process...

• locates relevant articles poorly or inaccurately indexed or unindexed;
• allows researchers to scan content quickly for relevant studies from the high-impact journals, and
• ensures that relevant studies are not overlooked "

"Snowballing Technique"

Building your bibliography is like making a snowball, add layers until it is the right size.

How do you know when you have enough?

• Are you seeing the same articles over and over?
• You need to "own the literature."

For more see page 84 in
Health Sciences Literature Review Made Easy: The Matrix Method.