Skip to Main Content

The Literature Review- Searching

Tips and tricks for conducting a literature search, for graduate students preparing to undertake a literature review.

collect

Record Your Findings

It doesn't matter how you record good articles you find, just that you do.  If you are more comfortable keeping your useful articles in a folder or a notebook, then do that.  If you like the convenience of Refworks or another citation manager, use it.  The important thing is that you are able to find your sources again and don't need to search for them again.

citation needed

Make a table:

 

Keeping Track

Keep track of where you searched and what your search string was. This way you don't end up doing the same search over and can move on to more effective searches.

Some databases will give you a permanent link to the search, so you can easily go back to the search.

Citation Managers

If you want to use a citation manager, but aren't very familiar with them, that's easily fixed.  We have guides for most of the popular citation managers, and if you have any further questions, just contact us!

RefWorks

Zotero

Endnote

500 W. University Avenue : El Paso, TX, 79968-0582 : (915) 747-5672
Copyright | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer
State Reports | UT System | Customer Service Statement | Site Feedback | Required Links |