Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Conducting a literature review



Science & Technology Literature Search

Conducting a literature review

Very important part of what we do, write many papers, not much time to waste reading things that is not important           
-          
Doing a lit. search well will save you time in the long run

ALSO, A LIT SEARCH WILL

Broadens your knowledge on a topic
Exposes you to new research in your area of interest            
Expands your knowledge on a topic
Shows your skill at finding relevant information

When doing a lit. review

Shows ability to stay focused on research question              
Not get side tracked
Allows for critical appraisal of research         
Identify valid research studies           
Weed through non-relevant articles

BUT BEFORE YOU START YOUR SERACH THERE ARE A FEW THINGS YOU HAVE TO KEEP IN MIND

FIRST begin with . . . . .

Clear idea of what you are researching
Keeps you focused – on track
too often we get sidetracked with other things that are interesting

ALSO              researchers differ in their terminology
                        if you search only one term you may miss out some more things
                        for example:
Unmarried fertility = out-of-wedlock childbearing = single mothers = non-marital births

So, it is important to have a search strategy….

FIRST

Set limits on your search
What is your perspective?
Theoretical
If the end product is a theory paper - look at article that are more theoretical          
    not is says “explore new methods”






ON THE OTHER HAND
Methodological approaches
Stay away from articles that says “theoretical perspectives’

ALSO        important to consider….  
                       
            Will it it tie to policy
            Does it use any new statistical procedures?
            Macro or micro level

What are you going to contribute to the literature?
What makes your work important – different?
If it a new method?   
Are you incorporating different measures?   
Is it a better dataset?

SO important to know what others have done before you in terms of what is relevant to your paper

Check syllabus from classes
Who are the big players?
If you have to read 20 articles            - do not waste your time reading some random work
First read the big names
                                                           
Searching tools TO MAKE IT EASIER

Truncated
Marr* = married, marriage, marital, marry

Boolean logic  - Can narrow search to specific terms or broaden to include variations on terms
Use OR, NOT, AND to be specific in search
Eg. marriage NOT t divorce


SO WHAT TYPES OF LITERATURE ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF LITERATURE

INCLUDE:      Articles
                        Peer-reviewed so know they are good           
                        Current                        
                        Ground breaking/new methods/etc    
                        Short  
                        Easier to find than books because most online          

Reviews and commentaries
                        Respond to article
                        Critique articles
                        Show limitations and other perspectives
                       


Reviews
            Condense most important research in area                
            Organizes by categories                     
            Provides a reading list 
                        e.g. American Review of Sociology,
                                Journal of Marriage and the Family Nov 2004

Another type ….

 Books

Topic books  (e.g. Delinquency, migration, etc)        
                        Tend to cover one subject completely
                        More specific

SIMILARLY             
Handbooks (e.g. Handbook of the Family)   
                        Cover the general ideas in the area    
                        Includes some theory relevant to the area     
                        Includes prominent methods                                     
                        Includes examples of works that illustrate the methods and theory used in area

Theory books  (e.g. Social Learning Theory)
                                                                                                           
                        Theory specific                       
                        Applied to many areas  (family, delinquency, etc)                           
ALSO….

Online reports

Census
Research institutes,
Gov agencies NSFG, etc
Report on datasets

Be careful!  Check sources for biases


SO   WHERE DO YOU FIND LITERATURE?

Library

Hard copies of books and journals     -

Interlibrary loan

The library is also Online
Download articles
Search for citations of popular articles

Academic search premier
Search for articles in journals


Search by journal name

If you only want articles published in Social Forces
Search by journal name

Online catalog
Find out what books we have

WEbOPAC catalog
If we do not have a book . . . . .
Get it from another library
Not interlibrary loan?
Add to folder and print later or add to reference tool

Click on the title opens an abstract 

ALSO   “Find more like this”

Times cited in database -                   
See  which articles are good    - cited 200 times        
also see what was done with the article

Narrow by subject

CLICK ON  Find It!
Links to full version of the paper

Looking for the Wilson article in social forces - can search just for social forces
CHECK DATES!!!!!

Not all links cover the same years
                        Eg..      JSTOR = only up to 2005
                                    Project MUSE only goes back to 2000
Internet

Online journals
Shortcuts to articles
                        Eg. Google scholar
                               Limited to only scholarly articles, books
Websites

Can give reports, summaries of findings, and links to important documents
             Eg. Government websites
                     Census reports
            Eg.       Department of health
                        Department of education
            Eg.      Research Institutes
                        Find reports from prominent data sources
            Eg.   .  NSF reports

                                    Be careful with information from internet
                                    Check source of information


NEXT, A VERY HELPFUL SITE…

Sometimes the title opens to a full text link

But best  to find it with Online Links

Also
Try opening all versions
Some may link to full text

CAN ALSO
Link to articles that cited the work
Link to related articles

Can also
Does a general web search?
Perhaps find article on the author’s website?

Is it relevant to your research?
Interesting, but does it help

Is the study significant?
Contributions
Clearly defined focus, research question?
Strengths and weaknesses
                        Study’s components?
                        Adequate data,
                        Sample size,
                        Limitations,
                        Conceptualization of the concepts, etc
                       
Theories, methods used?
ARE THEY RELEVANT TO YOUR RESEARCH?
           
Other perspectives that apply?
Other methods that could be use
Different theoretical approaches

Is the research/researcher biased by emotions or public opinion?
Language = emotions

Who is target audience?
Public, academic peers, policy makers?
Might influence the way the data and results are presented

There may be others that show a different perspectives





How to conduct an effective and valid literature search
A literature search is a well thought out and organised search for all of the literature published on a topic. A well-structured literature search is the most effective and efficient way to locate sound evidence on the subject you are researching. Evidence may be found in books, journals, government documents and the internet. This article describes the key principles involved in conducting a literature search.

Harvard, L. (2007) How to conduct an effective and valid literature search. This is an extended version of the article published in Nursing Times; 103: 45, 32-33.

Lori Havard BSc, MLS, is Subject Librarian, School of Health Science and School of Medicine, Swansea University
Creating a question
Creating a well-focused question is the first step in a literature search. Having a clear idea of what you are researching will keep you on track with your searching, saving you valuable time. A focused question will give you a better start with your search because it will help you determine appropriate keywords and limitations for your topic.
When forming your question, make sure you are specific about your research topic. Things to consider are:
·         The type of  your topic
·         The condition or situation you are researching;
·         The type of intervention or actual procedure you are investigating.
This is a good time also to determine limitations to your search, such as:
·         How many years you want to go back in the literature; you may want to limit the years to make the search more manageable or  up to date, while capturing key information for your research.;
·         Language: are you limiting the search to sources in the English language?
·         Geographical specifity, for example, limited to eg. ;  Sri Lanka or EU or to include international literature.
Sources of information
Information can come from many sources, in print or electronically.
Books
Books can be a good start on a topic, giving you general or specific information. Check that the book you are referring to is up to date – generally, this means published within the last five years – especially if you are looking for clinical or drug information.

You can find books on your area of research in an Academic or Special library. Consult with the Librarian to help you find any books that you need.

Journals
Journal articles are one of the best sources of information as they can be selected for being current and specific. Additionally, most of the important and ground-breaking research is published in journals. Journal articles are best found using citation databases, such as HINARI and EBSCO

Your search strategy can be used in all databases. Each database has some unique searching features. Your local library may hold sessions on how to search these databases or have guides to help you get started. Many databases have help screens or tutorials to help you familiarise yourself with their searching interface.
There are many types of articles and you need to be aware of the differences:
·         Research articles, including systematic reviews, are the best source of evidence;
·         Review articles give a summary of research articles on a topic;
·         Commentaries and opinion pieces can include interpretations on research or letters to the editor and editorials;
·         Case studies are a type of research that focuses on one person or situation, as opposed to a group of studies.
It is important to look for research in peer-reviewed journals. This means that the articles published have passed through peer critiquing before they are accepted for publication. This ensures that the articles have had some quality control.
Internet
Internet  sources are an invaluable source of evidence. A lot of research and statistics are published on the internet, especially those sponsored by government, academic and non-for-profit agencies.
Useful information, such as clinical guidance and government policy, is available in full and is free to download.
Be extra careful in evaluating sites, as anyone can put information on the internet. There are good Web Portals, such as Intute (www.intute.ac.uk) which serve as Gateways to the Internet. These Portals provide links to websites that have been reviewed by subject specialists in a particular subject.
The internet is an excellent source to find official publications in full. Sites such as British Official Publications Current Awareness Service / www.bopcris.ac.uk/bopcas (BOPCAS), The Stationery Office (www.tso.co.uk) and the UK Department of Health (www.dh.gov.uk) provide links to government documents.
The National Library for Health (www.library.nhs.uk) gathers guidelines, standards and various sources of evidence, as do NHS sites from home nations, for example, Health of Wales Information Service (HOWIS) (www.wales.nhs.uk) and Scottish Health on the Web (www.show.scot.nhs.uk).
Statistics are an important part of research and are widely available on the internet. The Office of National Statistics (www.statistics.gov.uk) contains a lot of information on health and social conditions in the UK.



Creating a search strategy
A search strategy is a well thought out plan to search for information. It is particularly important when using electronic citation databases, for example, CINAHL, BNI, Medline or ASSIA, as it keeps you focused on your topic and within the boundaries of what you want to search.

Key words and phrases
Your search strategy will take your research question and break it into keywords or phrases. Keywords and phrases are very important to your search. Sometimes it is best to think around a topic as much as possible to identify useful terms.

Many people find it useful to create a chart with the keywords and any synonyms you can think of or similar terms. You can also truncate your words or insert wildcards to expand your search (Box 1).
Box 1. Truncated and wildcard words
Truncate means finding the base of a word to find any words that begin with that base: Nurs* = nurse, nurses, nursing, nursery.
Wildcards are symbols you use to replace one or more characters in a word: Wom?n = woman or women.
Some nursing and medical terms are spelt differently in the US and the UK, so it is best to include both spellings for these words.
Box 2 provides an example of a chart used to explore handwashing compliance by nurses.
Box 2. Example of chart for researching handwashing compliance by nurses
Handwash*
Complian*
Nurs*
Hand wash*
Non-complian*
Hand hygiene
Putting terms together
Now that you have your terms along with their synonyms, truncations and wildcards, you can start putting them together.




Boolean logic is the way to put terms together in a search by using AND, OR, NOT.
AND
Narrows your search by making sure that all your terms show up in an article.
Example: handwash* AND complian* AND nurs* would bring back articles that relate to handwashing and compliance and nursing - including all the truncated forms of the words.

OR
Broadens your search by allowing any of the terms to show up in an article; it is also useful for linking together synonyms.
Example: handwash* OR hand wash* OR hand hygiene would bring back articles with handwashing and its synonyms.

If you are using terms and synonyms together in a database or Internet search, you must put these in brackets.
Example: (handwash* OR hand wash* OR hand hygiene) AND (complian* OR non-complian*) AND nurs* .

NOT
Narrows your search by eliminating a term from your search.
Example: handwash* NOT alcohol gel would bring back articles on handwashing, but not articles on alcohol gels used in handwashing

Phrases
Phrase searching will help you if you are looking for a specific phrase or title. You need to put the phrase in quotation marks.
Example: “NHS Code of Practice” .

Critiquing tools
Critiquing a paper or a website is an important skill. Many published papers have gone through a peer review before publication but it is always important for you to do your own critiquing to determine the quality of the article and if it is relevant to your research.
There are various tools to help you critique a paper. One is the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) from the Public Health Resources Unit in the NHS.
Below are two checklists that you can download from CASP:
·         Qualitative research - CASP looks at ‘rigour, credibility and relevance’. www.phru.nhs.uk/Doc_Links/Qualitative Appraisal Tool.pdf
·         Quantitative research - CASP looks at the validity of the research, examines the results and if the results can be used locally to answer your research question. A number of tools are provided to critique a variety of quantitative research, such as systematic reviews, randomised controlled trials, cohort studies, case controlled and diagnostic test studies. www.phru.nhs.uk/Pages/PHD/resources.htm
There are also checklists for critiquing a website. One is the DISCERN checklist (www.discern.org.uk/index.php).

Key points
·         A well-designed literature search will include a research question that will provide keywords and phrases to begin creating a search strategy;
·         Your search strategy will include keywords and synonyms, along with any truncation or wildcards. You will also apply limits to your search, such as language or publication years.
·         There are many resources that you can use to search for information, including print and electronic resources. All literature that you retrieve should be critically appraised in order to determine its quality and relevance to your search.
·         Librarians at local Public, Academic and Special libraries can be a valuable source of information and support during your literature search. They can advise you on resources to search and which databases, journals and books you have access to.
References
Bopcas/Bopcriswww.bopcris.ac.uk/bopcas/
Department of Healthwww.dh.gov.uk
DISCERNwww.discern.org.uk/index.php
Health of Wales Information Service (HOWIS) www.wales.nhs.uk
Intutewww.intute.ac.uk
National Library for Healthwww.library.nhs.uk
The Office of National Statisticswww.statistics.gov.uk
Scottish Health on the Webwww.show.scot.nhs.uk
The Stationery Officewww.tso.co.uk
How to conduct a literature review
First, understand the information cycle:

If you are unfamiliar with your assigned topic, don't begin your search looking for research articles in bibliographic databases. Even if your instructor wants you to use only primary literature or research articles in your paper, that doesn't mean you can't begin by using other sources. Investing 20 or 30 minutes reviewing background information on your topic may dramatically reduce the time you spend searching databases.
Research articles often have a very narrow focus and may not provide enough background information for you to be comfortable with the topic. In addition, there may be hundreds of articles that fall under your topic, making it difficult to decide how to focus your search.
As the diagram on the right illustrates, information has a life-cycle. Notice that at some time after journal articles are published, the information from them makes its way into "secondary sources".
infocycle-abridged.gif (4024 bytes)
Second, use secondary sources:
Secondary sources include such things as handbooks, encyclopedias, monographs, and review articles. Secondary sources compact, condense, synthesize, or integrate the information about a topic that is scattered and fragmented in the primary literature.                                     In addition, they often include bibliographies of classic or important articles on the topic. Don't forget that other sources besides databases provide access to the research literature!
Strategy tip:
Focus your database search on the period since the publication of your secondary source. If your source was published two years ago, focus on the research literature from the last two years.
Don't assume secondary sources are "too old". Many handbooks are published annually and electronic sources are often updated quarterly or even continuously. Since science and research often proceed methodically, with occasional break-through discoveries, it may also be the case that even "old" information is still very relevant. Don't discount the information found in a secondary source just because it may be four or five years old.
The fastest and easiest way to get started on a literature review is to ask a Reference Librarian what sources they have for background information on your topic.
Finally, look for primary sources (e.g. research articles):
Because effective database searching is a skill you have to learn, don't hesitate to ask for help. Ask a reference librarian which database is the most appropriate for your topic. Don't be afraid to ask them for help or advice on how to search.
Effective database searching is usually a matter of finding the right combination of search terms. Begin by making a list of important terms or phrases you see in your secondary sources. Pay special attention to synonyms and word variations: does your drug or disease have several names (e.g. tylenol/acetaminophen, cancer/neoplasm), have you considered the various forms of your search terms (therapy, therapies, therapeutic)? Be sure to discuss these with the librarian.
Understand how to combine terms in the database you are using. For example, do you understand how to search for the combination of words fracture and either radius or ulna and either child or boy or girl? If you don't know, ask for help.
Many databases include special subject-search functions. Ask if that feature is included in the database you want to search.
Getting started:
If you are an inexperienced searcher, go to the library and ask a reference librarian for help. If you are off-campus, call the reference desk and ask for advice on database selection and search strategies.
Look for information on search techniques in "quick tips" guides.
 Important Website of Presentation on Scientific Research Methodology
http://www.scribd.com/doc/939968/Research-Methodology-Part-1-Introduction-to-Research-Research-Methodology



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