Literature Search

DR. AMAN ULLAH

B.SC. MEDICAL LAB. TECHNOLOGY
PH.D. MICROBIOLOGY
LECTURER OF LABORATORY SCIENCE, KHYBER MEDICAL UNIVERSITY, PAKISTAN
Introduction

 A literature search is a systematic, thorough search of all types of

literature (e.g. books, peer reviewed articles, etc.) in your topic
 A literature search involves searching and compiling all the
literature (books, journals, and more) available on a specific topic
 It is carried out to identify knowledge gaps in a particular topic,
which will then guide further research in that topic
 It is also carried out to provide background in a study, support
methodologies, provide context or comparisons for discussions, and
more
Introduction

 One of the most important reasons to do a literature search

is to have enough information to formulate a valid
research question
 It's
important before undertaking any research to fully
understand the shape of the literature in the area
 Literature searching can be broken down into a series of
iterative steps
Why literature search is important

 A literature search can be a daunting, tiring and time-consuming

task
 Since this activity forms the foundation for future research, it is
essential for it to be absolutely comprehensive and accurate
 Errors in a literature search could mean loss of precious time,
resources and energy
 You could be carrying out research which has already been done
before, using redundant, outdated methodologies, or designing
experiments that have shown to be ineffective in the past
Literature Search: Process Flow  

 Develop a research question in a specific subject area

 Make a list of relevant databases and texts you will search
 Make a list of relevant keywords and phrases
 Start searching and make notes from each database to keep
track of your search
 Review the literature and compile all the results into a
report
 Revise your original research question if necessary
Develop a well-defined question

Starting off a literature review without an clear and focused

research question will mean that you will dig up a lot of
literature not relevant to what you actually want. So, develop
a research question that is:
 Focused
 Not too broad and not too narrow in scope
 Complex enough to allow for research and analysis
Sources

 A primary source is published, peer-reviewed research available in the

form of books and journals
 Online databases provide access to published works available on the
web
Examples:
 Pubmed, which has more than 27 million citations for biomedical
literature
 PsycINFO has more than 3 million records on psychology topics
 Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) has over 1.5 million
records of literature related to education research
Choose the right keywords

 Overlooking the importance of using the right keywords and phrases

relevant to the topic means that you could miss important
information due to a weak search query.
 Read papers from different publications to familiarize yourself with
the writing style and keywords.
 Build a concept map of related keywords and phrases that might be
related to your research
Example, the related keywords to ‘literature search’ are ‘secondary
research’ and ‘systematic review’
Evaluate literature for quality

 You’ve got all the literature in place, but how do you know if it’s
reliable? Since you’re going to be building your research on this
information you need to have some quality control and make sure that
sources are credible. Evaluate the credibility of the source by asking
these questions:
 Where was the research published?
 When was it published?
 Has it been peer-reviewed?
 Does the author have good credentials?
 Is the article free from bias?
Redefine your question

 Now that the literature search is completed, you might be

raring to go
 But wait! It’s not over yet
 At the end of your search, you have to go back to square
one: the research question
 Is it still relevant and valid? Does it have to be revised?
Questions/Sugguations