Effective Literature Search : Tips and Tricks

Abstract

This presentation will help you in conducting an effective literature search using good keywords and facilitate in finding the fulll text of the articles. This is third of the six presentations I deliver as part of the workshop titled ”Medical Writing Made Easy: a step by step guide” I have been conducting these workshops since March 2014 and so have have conducted and facilitated 40 workshops on different aspects of medical writing all across Pakistan. Many of these workshops were supported by grant from AuthorAID (authoraid.info)

Full text

Farooq Rathore

"As long as one keeps searching, the answers
come."
Joan Baez

What is literature search

What is literature search
Developing an ability to search in a purposeful and
systematic manner through the range of literature
or information relevant to one’s particular field

Why search the literature?
Knowledge about recent advances
To identify suitable research topic
Avoid duplication
Understanding of the work done in the past
Provide evidence for the research that is planned
Generate discussion for the topic

Literature search strategy

Literature search strategy
Define your information need / research question
Extract the concepts and terms
List the keywords
Decide which sources to use
Find out how they function
Run your search
Review , refine you search and set alerts

Where to search? ----Global Data bases

Global Databases

Where to search? ----Global Data bases
Medline
PubMed Central
Google scholar
DOAJ
Springerlink
Sciencedirect
Ovid Data base
Highwire

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Where to search? --- Regional data bases

Where to search? --- Regional data bases
AJOL
Pakmedinet
Bangladesh JOL
Medindia
Bioline

Literature search Techniques

Keywords
Synonyms
Demographics & epidemiology
Stroke & Stroke (CVA)
Head injury & traumatic brain injury
Tetraplegia & Quadriplegia

Keywords
Acronyms
AMI; BKA; TBI; SCI; TB
Alternative spellings
Hemorrhage –Haemorrhage
Ischemia --- Ischaemia
Pediatric ---Paediatric
Guillain-Barre Syndrome ---Guillian-Barre Syndrome

Keywords
Change in Nomenclature
Juvenile chronic arthritis
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Literature search Techniques
Boolean operators

Boolean Operators
http://img.docstoccdn.com/thumb/orig/135024421.png

Boolean Operators

Literature search Techniques
Boolean operators
Phrase searching
Wildcards (truncation)

Wildcards (truncation)
The asterisk symbol acts as a “wildcard” and matches all words
that begin with the string of characters before the asterisk
arter*
artery
arteries
arterial
arterioles

Literature search Techniques
Boolean operators
Phrase searching
Wildcards (truncation)
Following a search ---Alerts

How to access full text of articles?

How to access full text of articles?
Medline Limits
Google scholar

How to access full text of articles?
Medline Limits
Google scholar
HEC digital library access
Reprint request to author
Personal subscription/ Pay per view

How to access full text of articles?
College/University library
Society membership
Trial access & Promotional offers

How to access full text of articles?
College/University library
Society membership
Trial access & Promotional offers
Friends/Colleagues abroad

Polish you computer and Internet browsing skills
Computer, DSL and Printer
Plan for your literature search and spare some time.
Prepare a list of Key words
Team work
PubMed tutorials
Some practical tips