A literature review is a comprehensive, organized, and structured written synthesis of published literature (journal articles, books, book chapters, etc.) on a specific topic. A well-written literature review analyzes and synthesizes ideas from the literature in a clear, cogent, and logical manner. A literature review is not simply a summary of what has been published in the literature.
For more information on literature reviews, consult the books below:
1. Develop and refine your topic. It may help to phrase your topic in the form of a question using the PICOT framework.
2. Brainstorm a list of initial search terms to find literature in research databases and map out your search strategy using Boolean logic (see the Search Strategy Hints box below)
3. Select relevant databases for searching (see Selected List of Relevant Databases by Subject below)
4. Choose one initial database to conduct your first search in. As you search in this first database, take note of any other relevant terminology that you observe in the search results. Add these new terms to your search strategy and refine your search accordingly.
5. Conduct your search in all additional relevant databases you selected in Step 3.
Need help searching?
The following is a selected list of relevant research databases.
Explore all library databases by title or subject here.
| Databases | What You Can Find | Tutorials |
| Nursing/Health Sciences/Medicine | ||
| CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature) |
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| Cochrane Library |
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| Embase |
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MEDLINE MEDLINE is available in various search interfaces:
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EBSCOhost interface OVID interface |
| OVID Nursing Full-Text Plus |
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| ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Premium |
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| PubMed @ UT |
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| UpToDate |
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| Web of Science |
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| Education | ||
| Education Full-Text |
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| Education Research Complete |
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| ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) |
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| Gender Studies | ||
| Gender Studies Database |
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| LGBTQ+ Source |
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| Women's Studies International |
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| Psychology | ||
| APA PsycINFO |
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| Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Sociology/Social Work | ||
| SocIndex |
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| Sociological Collection |
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| Strategy | Function |
| Keywords |
A keyword search is where you enter any terms you develop that describe your topic. The database will retrieve results based on the exact terms you enter. Some databases will map those keywords to more specific subject headings. Keyword searching is very flexible and is the best way to begin a search, especially if you are unsure of the correct terminology to use. As you begin reading through your results, you may notice trends and patterns in terminology (including other keywords or more precise subject headings/controlled vocabulary) that you can then apply as you revise your search strategy. Typically retrieves several results, although some may not be relevant to your topic as keyword searching does not always take into consideration the context of search terms. VIDEO TUTORIALS: CINAHL Basic Searching | EBSCOhost Basic Searching |
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Subject Headings (also known as "controlled vocabulary") |
A targeted, precise, and specific way to search using a database's built-in controlled vocabulary. Various databases have their own subject headings - i.e. CINAHL Headings in CINAHL and the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) in MEDLINE/PubMed. Controlled vocabulary subject headings function like a thesaurus and will take into consideration synonyms, related terms, narrower terms, broader terms, abbreviations, and variations in spelling. Typically retrieves fewer results than keyword searching (although not always - it depends on the topic), and results are oftentimes more relevant. VIDEO TUTORIALS: CINAHL & MeSH Subject Headings | PubMed Subject Searching |
| Boolean Operators |
Boolean operators provide a logical way to combine keyword or subject heading terms using AND, OR, or NOT AND will narrow your search by combining one or more terms together cancer AND fatigue AND exercise will retrieve results with all of those terms OR will broaden your search by retrieving results on any of the terms you enter empathy OR compassion OR sympathy will retrieve results with any of those terms NOT will exclude designated terms from your results immunodeficiency NOT HIV will retrieve results with the term immunodeficiency but exclude articles that mention HIV VIDEO TUTORIALS: CINAHL Advanced Searching | PubMed Advanced Search Builder |
| Truncation/Stemming |
Use of an asterisk * after the root of a word will search for various word endings nurs* will find nurse, nurses, nursing anesth* will find anesthesiology, anesthetist, anesthesiologist |
| Phrase Searching |
Use of quotes around words will retrieve results with that exact phrase. For example: "Algase Wandering Scale" "mindfulness-based stress reduction" "animal-assisted therapy" |
| Nesting |
Use of parentheses will group desired search terms together in combination with appropriate Boolean operators in a single search box (dementia OR "Alzheimer* disease") AND ("fall prevention" OR "fall risk assessment") This search will find results on dementia AND either fall prevention OR fall risk assessment It will also find results on Alzheimer disease (or Alzheimer's disease) AND either fall prevention OR fall risk assessment |
| Limits/Filters |
After conducting a search in a database, you can narrow and refine your search results by applying limiters or filters. These options vary from database to database. Limiters and filters for narrowing your results are often located along the left side of your database search results page. Select appropriate limiters/filters that are relevant to your topic or your information need. Common options include publication date, type of article, age group, gender, peer-reviewed, etc. |