Finding material.
WHERE TO SEARCH
Academic databases and indexes Your institution's library Open access repositories Reference lists of relevant works
THAT LAST ONE
The most efficient route. One good paper leads to many.
HOW TO SEARCH
Specific terms, not questions Terms the literature actually uses, which may differ from yours Combinations, narrowed progressively
WHAT TO DO WHEN RESULTS ARE POOR
Change the terms, using vocabulary from papers you have found.
WHAT TO NOTE ABOUT EACH SOURCE
Full reference details What it argues What evidence it uses How it relates to your question
WHAT TO RECORD IMMEDIATELY
The reference, completely.
WHY
Reconstructing references later is slow and error-prone.
WHAT TO USE
A reference manager, which stores and formats them.
WHAT TO BE AWARE OF
Access restrictions, and what your institution provides.
WHAT TO TRACK
Which searches you performed, so you do not repeat them.
WHAT TO KNOW WHEN TO STOP
When new searches return material you have already seen.
