Literature Reviews and Annotated Bibliographies
Searching the Literature
Database searching is an iterative process, meaning you will likely repeat searches multiple times as you refine your understanding of the topic, keywords, and concepts. You may also revisit your search to explore different databases or to follow up on a specific author or study you've encountered.
Develop a Strategy
Keep track of your search terms and databases searched!
- Use a citation manager, such as EndNote, Mendeley, or Zotero, to keep, organize, and share your resources.
- From the results list, review the abstracts of relevant articles to decide if the article will be helpful to/applicable to your search.
- Make note of the searches you conduct in each database so that you may duplicate them if you need to later (or avoid dead-end searches that you have already tried). You can also save your searches within each database, review them, and/or set up Search Alerts.
- Utilize 'citation chaining' by reviewing the references in key articles to discover additional relevant sources. Use Google Scholar to track who has cited your article for further exploration of related research."
The image shows a screenshot of a Google Scholar search results page. At the top left, “Google Scholar” is prominently displayed with the search term “research” entered in the search bar. Below the search bar, it states that there are about 10,400,000 results. The main section shows a result for a book titled "How to research" by L. Blaxter, C Hughes, and M. Tight, published in 2010. The result includes a brief description and a citation count encircled in red, indicating "Cited by 5193."
Determine Criteria
After defining your research question, ensure you get the most relevant results by making decisions about the following:
- Select a time frame for relevant search results.
- Would the past five years be more suitable?
- Is your research from a more historical perspective?
- Consider the population you want to research.
- Age range?
- Education level?
- Socio-economic status?
- Gender? (There are many, many options!)
- Consider interdisciplinary fields
- Are there adjacent fields in which this research has been conducted that you would like to include?
- Select a geography (and language)
- Where has this type of research taken place?
- Will you confine your results to the United States?
- To English-speaking countries?
- Will you translate the works if needed?
- Consider the organizing structure for your review.
- Is there a controversy or debate in your research field that you want to highlight?
- Are you creating a historical overview? Is this background reading for your research?
- Is there new technology that can shed light on an old problem, or an old technology that can be used in a new way?
Source: Literature Review LibGuide, University of Texas Libraries
Choosing Databases
Locating Periodicals:
As its name suggests, a periodical appears periodically, such as daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, etc. Each issue is entirely new and different from previous issues.
- Newspapers - Who, what, when, where. Basic vocabulary, current news, eye-witness accounts (current and historical)
- Magazines - easy reading, informative, general public readership
- Scholarly journals (aka peer-reviewed, academic, refereed, research) - Analysis & research: College level
- Professional or Trade periodicals - more news and short reports on updates for professionals working in their field.
1. Start by exploring concepts and keywords to identify relevant information. During this phase, search interdisciplinary databases such as the ASU Libraries OneSearch, ProQuest, EBSCOhost, Academic Search Ultimate, and Google Scholar. These databases contain numerous subject-specific databases, making them suitable for in-depth investigative searches.
2. Consider the areas or disciplines that factor into the topic after clarifying your question. Most academic research is multidisciplinary, and including literature from various 'lenses' enhances your literature review.
- For example, there may be an economic lens to your question, a psychological, or a gender viewpoint -- in addition to the overall discipline you are working in.
3. You want to consider selecting databases by Subject: (for example: design, journalism, education, business, engineering)
The image is a screenshot of the ASU Library's A-Z Databases webpage. Underneath the header, the page is divided into sections with headings like "Starting points," "Need Help?," and "Legend." The "Starting points" section lists links to resources such as "Academic Search Ultimate" and "Google Scholar." Below these sections, there are dropdown menus for selecting database filters, marked with a red oval around "All subjects."
4. You can also search by Type: (for example: biographies, newspapers, or government documents)
The image is a screenshot of the ASU Library's A-Z Databases webpage. Underneath the header, the page is divided into sections with headings like "Starting points," "Need Help?," and "Legend." The "Starting points" section lists links to resources such as "Academic Search Ultimate" and "Google Scholar." Below these sections, there are dropdown menus for selecting database filters, marked with a red oval around "All database types."
5. You can also use our Research Guides to search for database suggestions.
6. A librarian can help you decide on and use discipline-specific resources and search strategies. Contact us via Ask A Librarian.
Adapted from: McMaster University Library Guide
Keywords
Compile a list of relevant terms for each key concept in your research question, including synonyms, alternate spellings, and related phrases that may give you valuable results. For example:
Does cognitive behavioral therapy improve social communication in children with autism?
The three main concepts of this question are:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy
- Social communication
- Children with autism
The next step would be to list the terms that are related to each one. For example:
- CBT, cognitive behavioural therapy
- Social interaction, interpersonal communication, social skills, social cues, conversation skills (and many more)
- Autistic, autism spectrum disorder, ASD, neurodevelopmental disorders, autistic students
Improve Search Results
AND
If you are getting too many choices and want to narrow your results, use the "AND" operator. In doing this, you ensure that all terms are present in the results list. For example: hormones AND female AND age AND memory
The image shows an APA PsycInfo database search results page with a teal header. The search bar near the top contains the query "hormones AND female AND age AND memory." Below this, the results section displays 10 results sorted by "Relevance." Options for filtering the results, such as "Peer reviewed" under "Limit to" and "Scholarly Journal" under "Source type," are visible on the left. The first search result is an article about dose- and age-dependent alterations and appears to have an image of a journal cover alongside citation details and abstract/links to full text and references. The second article, another scholarly journal article, discusses the effects of motherhood on learning and memory in rats, with a similar display format to the first. Various icons and buttons for actions like saving and citing are available for each entry.
OR
To broaden your search, use the "OR" operator. For example, "attachment behavior" OR "attachment disorder" will provide a list of results with either term.
The image shows an APA PsycInfo database search results page with a teal header. Below the header, the "Advanced Search" feature includes search boxes where users can input search terms. Two search fields are visible, containing the phrases "attachment behavior" and "attachment disorder," connected by an "OR" operator. Each search box has a dropdown to select where to search for the term. Below the search fields, there are options to add additional rows and limit search results by peer-reviewed articles or impact statements.
NOT
To narrow your results, use "NOT," but be cautious. NOT eliminates all results containing a specific word, so be very careful using the NOT operator because you might unintentionally exclude records.
Example: (testimony OR witness+) NOT expert.
The image shows an APA PsycInfo database search results page with a teal header. A search bar with the query "(testimony OR witness*) NOT expert" in the search field. Below the header, it indicates that 16,303 results are available. On the left is a sidebar, which contains filter options such as sorting methods, source type, and publication date. The main section to the right shows the list of search results, with brief information about each item, such as the title, authors, publication source, and options for accessing full text or more details. Each entry is numbered, and options to "Get it @ ASU" are displayed for the listed works.
Nesting | Parentheses ( )
You can enclose search terms in parentheses to specify the order in which they are interpreted. Information within parentheses is read first, then information outside parentheses is read next. For example:
memory AND (optimis* OR pessimis* AND personality)
The computer first searches for everything that has either optimis* OR pessimis* AND personality. Then, from that pool of results, it will limit it to only those results that also include memory.
The image shows an APA PsycInfo database search results page with a teal header. A search bar with the query “memory AND (optimis* OR pessimis* AND personality)”, resulting in 631 entries. On the left, sorting options include "Relevance," "Peer reviewed," "Source type," and a date range slider from 1890 to 2023. The right side lists search results, each entry featuring a title, author, and publication details. Icons for citation, email options, and scholarly journal indications are present alongside each entry. Three results are visible, discussing topics that relate to memory, personality, optimism, pessimism, and neuropsychological performance.
Truncation*
Truncation means "to shorten" and is a function that allows you to substitute any character (or number of characters) from the point where the truncation symbol is placed. In the ProQuest interface, the truncation symbol is an asterisk (*), which represents up to five characters within or at the end of a word. For example, therap* will locate records with therapy, therapies, therapists, therapeutic, therapeutically, etc.
The image shows an APA PsycInfo database search results page with a teal header. A search bar with the query "(artificial intelligence OR AI) AND therap*". To the right, options for modifying the search, viewing recent searches, or saving the search are available. The main panel displays a total of 1,537 results, sorted by relevance. Each search result is listed with a title, authors, source information, and publication details. Options to view abstracts, full text, and citations are underneath each entry. The left side features filters like peer review options, source type, and publication date with a bar graph for visual guidance.
Plural +
The "+" symbol instructs the database to search for both the plural and singular forms of the words. For example, witness and witnesses:
The image shows an APA PsycInfo database search results page with a teal header. A search bar with the query "(credibility OR reliability) AND (testimony OR witness*) NOT expert." Below the search bar, it shows "755 results." The results are sorted by relevance, with an option to limit to peer-reviewed sources. There are various icons for sorting, sharing, and saving searches.
Quotations
Use quotations " " to search for the exact phrase. For example, "stress scale" will NOT retrieve "perceived stress scale," "scale of perceived stress," or any other variation. It will retrieve only "stress scale."
Tip* When using the ProQuest database platform that hosts both PsycINFO and PsycARTICLES, you can also use curly brackets { } and the search will include spelling (humor v humour) and grammatical variants (tall will retrieve tallest) of the exact term. Example: compare "stress scale" with "{stress scale}"
The image is a screenshot of the APA PsycNet search interface, affiliated with the ASU Library. Below, there is a navigation menu with options like "Search," "Browse," and "APA Thesaurus." The main section shows an "Advanced Search" form and a search bar with the query "stress scale." Two search fields are visible, with drop-down menus allowing the user to specify the search parameters. Options for filtering results are present, including checkboxes for "Peer-Reviewed," "Impact Statement," and "Open Access." A checked box labeled "Test Available" is visible. On the right, there are sections labeled "Search Tools," "Recent Searches," and "Trending," with sub-options like "Author Lookup" and "Journal Lookup."
PRE/X: finds terms with X number of words between them, in the order they are entered in the search.
NEAR/X: finds terms with X number of words between them, regardless of the order in which they occur.
Specifying NEAR/1 can be helpful for finding results that include specific phrases because the two terms are next to – or “one word away” from — each other.
Increasing the proximity search limit to NEAR/2 will return records that have the search terms appearing within two words of each other (i.e., next to each other or separated by a single word between them). For example, searching for child* NEAR/2 trauma* {in Abstract field} AND experience {in Any Field} will retrieve records with useful variations due to both the word order and the truncation operator.
Matching search results for this proximity search would include (but aren’t limited to)
- Experience of childhood trauma
- Traumatic childhood experiences
- Experience of children with traumatic [brain injuries]
- Trauma on child [emotional health]
- Trauma-exposed children
- [Psychological] trauma for children
- Children experience traumatic [stress]
- Children after trauma
- Children’s traumatic experiences
The image shows an advanced search page from the PsycINFO database. Below, there are search fields with drop-down menus for selecting search criteria. The first search field contains the text "child* NEAR/2 trauma*" with the option "in Abstract - ABSTRACT". A second query line displays "experience" with "in Anywhere". There is a button labeled "Add a row" to include additional search criteria. Below the fields, options to limit search results are displayed, with checkboxes for "Peer reviewed" and "Impact statements".
Similar to truncation, a wildcard character replaces any single character inside or at the end of the word. One single "?" will retrieve only one more character. It can be used within or at the end of a word. In PsycINFO (on the ProQuest interface), the wildcard character is a question mark (?) and substitutes zero or one character.
- For example, searching gr?y would retrieve “grey” and “gray.”
**Note** Some databases use the # symbol for Wildcard searching.