If you are undertaking research for an assignment or project you will need to do a literature search to identify relevant and appropriate material. This guide will give you simple steps and rules that will help you search more effectively. It’s important to plan a search strategy before beginning your research. Spending some time now, working out what you want and how you will go about finding it, will save you a lot of time in the future.
Certain academic disciplines require specific search techniques and some of these are explored in depth below.
Have you ever struggled to find quality results but do not know how to improve your searches? The aim of this guide is to help you to search more effectively. It covers:
This Basic search strategy guide is aimed at undergraduates but is suitable for any level of study.
CINAHL is one of the most popular databases for finding journal articles on health related topics used by the School of Health and Life Sciences. This guide will show you how to search CINAHL in a structured way, including how to use the PICO or PIO method in Evidence Based Practice (EBP) searches.
Students doing research proposals or dissertations in Education, Early Years or Early Childhood studies are often asked to use the PIO formula when literature searching. This guide will talk you through the stages of identifying keywords, using boolean operators and applying these to the databases.
Are you undertaking any research for a dissertation or project? If you are, you will need to do a literature search to identify relevant and appropriate material. This guide will give you simple steps and rules that will help you search more effectively.
Literature searching for your dissertation guide
You might also be interested in our dedicated guide - Doing your dissertation