Where to search

Key questions to ask yourself:

• What kind of literature am I looking for?
• Where am I most likely to find it?

If you usually use Library MegaSearch or Google Scholar as your primary search tools, you will want to expand your toolkit a little for your literature review. 

In fact, you should check with your lecturer before using MegaSearch and/or Scholar for lit reviews.  Higher research usually does not use them, as there is no way to be certain what sources are being included by these tools at the time your search was performed.  If you know you have to document your search, it is usually better to search databases individually.

Many library databases specialise in indexing the literature in a specific subject, so they can offer a range of useful ways to focus your search that MegaSearch and Scholar can't match.

• Improved subject term searching
  When all the documents in a database can be tagged with the same set of subject terms, subject terms searches are most effective.
• Subject specific search filters, i.e.
  Heath specific databases might use filters such as age group, gender, and specific study types - RCTs, Systematic Reviews
  Business specific databases might use filters such as company entity, NAICs code, and different study types - Industry Profiles, Company Reports

Check the library subject guides and 'databases by subject' search to find out which databases might be best for your research topic https://utas.libguides.com/home/subjects

Search strategy

Linking your search words together with Boolean Operators and applying appropriate search modifiers will form your search strategy. 

Boolean Operators

Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) allow you to control how your keywords are combined. They are the foundation of strategic keyword searching.

Wildcard Modifiers

Wildcard modifiers can be substituted for one or more letters in a word to include variant spellings or alternate word endings in your search.

Proximity Modifiers

Proximity modifiers allow you to control how close together your keywords must be in the text.

A word of caution

Search modifier symbols can differ between different databases. 

This guide uses examples from EBSCO databases (including Library MegaSearch) and Google.

For other databases, check the HELP link in your chosen database to find out which modifiers are used.

Documenting your search

Documenting your search is not an essential step in all literature reviews, but it is worth considering because in can help you to 

• keep track of what you've done / prevent repetition of unproductive searches
• reuse successful search strategies in future 
• describe your search process 
• justify your search process

Documenting your search is a critical step for rigorous review papers, though, especially systematic reviews.  If you are required to include a section in your review that details where you searched and what search terms you used, here are some things to keep in mind:

• databases / search tools used
• search strategies for each, including search terms and limits used (e.g. dates, language, etc.)
• date each search was conducted
• number of results for each search strategy
• notes on any individual journals that were searched separately or using other search methods (i.e. following citations)

NOTE: You may not have to use all of these. Choose the ones that make sense in the context of your review.

See also:

Kable, AK, Pich, J & Maslin-Prothero, SE 2012, ‘A structured approach to documenting a search strategy for publication: A 12 step guideline for authors’, Nurse Education Today, vol. 32, no. 8, pp. 878–886, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2012.02.022

Systematic Review guide: https://utas.libguides.com/SystematicReviews/Documenting