How to Do a Literature Search Part 1: Search Keywords | Searching for a Literature Review

TL;DR

Learn how to generate keywords for a literature search by asking your supervisor, reviewing reference lists, and studying literature reviews in your field.

Transcript

hey everyone and welcome back to my channel today we are going to be going through with these steps to generating your keywords for your literature search so already on this channel I have done two videos related to the literature review so the first video I did I did was how I read research papers and sort of the steps on the way for deciding whet... Read More

Key Insights

• 👨‍🔬 Asking your supervisor or colleagues for key research papers can provide a good starting point for your literature search.
• 👨‍🔬 Studying literature reviews in your field can help you understand how to conduct your own review and define objectives and search protocols.
• 👂 Reviewing reference lists of relevant papers can help you find additional sources for your literature review.
• 👨‍🔬 Using acronyms like Pico or Spider can be helpful in defining your research question in terms of search terms.
• 👨‍🔬 Generating alternative keywords for your search terms is important to make your keyword search more concise.
• 👨‍🔬 Conducting a scoping search can help you determine if your research question has already been answered by another systematic review.
• 👨‍🔬 Defining your research question in terms of search terms helps you have a concise format for your review.

Questions & Answers

Q: What are the main steps for generating keywords for a literature search?

The main steps for generating keywords include asking your supervisor for key research papers, studying literature reviews in your field, and reviewing reference lists to find relevant sources.

Q: How can asking your supervisor help in generating keywords?

Your supervisor is likely knowledgeable about the research area and can provide recommendations for key research papers and researchers in the field, which can serve as a starting point for your literature search.

Q: Why is it important to study literature reviews in your field?

Studying literature reviews in your field can help you understand how they are conducted, what type of literature review is appropriate for your area, and how to define objectives and search protocols for your own literature review.

Q: How can reviewing reference lists help in generating keywords?

Reviewing reference lists of relevant papers can help you identify additional sources for your literature review. By looking at the papers that are cited and those that cite the key research papers, you can find alternative options to include in your review.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The content discusses the steps to generate keywords for a literature search, which is an essential part of conducting a literature review.

• The first step is to ask your supervisor or colleagues for key research papers and researchers in the field, which can provide a good starting point.

• Another important step is to study literature reviews in your field to understand how they are conducted and to identify potential search strategies and inclusion/exclusion criteria.