Performing a literature search

 
1. Introduction 5. Boolean operators
2. Search strategies 6. Summary points
3. Search features 7. Useful databases
4. Optional features 8. Further help

Optional features

Quotation marks

Quotation marks are another useful way of searching as they allow you to search for specific phrases.

For example, searching for “practice-based commissioning” will return results containing this exact phrase only.

Using 'adjacent'

Using the word 'adj' is a very effective and advanced way of searching which allows you to pick up items where two words are near to each other in any order.  You can specify how near or far from each other your want the words to be.

For example: The search 'mobile app$ adj3 effective$' will return results in which “mobile app$” and “effective” are within three words of each other. To use the adjacent function use the feature adj within your search followed by the number of words you wish to limit it by.

Controlled Vocabulary (finding subject headings)

Databases often have their own thesaurus of subject headings that have been specifically developed to capture the nature of the references.  Use this feature alongside your keywords (text words) to enhance the accuracy of the search results.

For example: within Medline, which has probably the most developed and sophisticated thesaurus, the subject heading assigned to what we call "commissioning" is "state medicine". Remember, by using these assigned subject headings alongside your keywords you will make your search more focussed.

Snowballing

Snowballing is a really effective way of identifying further keywords and synonyms for your search.

If on a database you find an article that is perfectly matched to your search criteria, then look at the subject headings for that article and note what terms have been assigned to it. This will often give you ideas of further keywords/subjects headings to include in your search.

Test your understanding

If you were looking for material relating to the commissioning of mental health services which of the following would be a good search strategy?

  • commissioning mental health service$
  • commissioning adj3 mental health service$
  • "commissioning mental health service$"

Answer

The best search would be the first one.

Commissioning adj3 mental health service$ - this search would bring up references where commissioning is within 3 words of mental health services. It keeps it relevant but not too narrow.

Commissioning mental health service$ - this search would look for occurrences of the words: commissioning, mental, health  and services, but not particularly related to each other. In other words this search would be too broad.

"commissioning mental health service$" - this would be a good search to perform in addition to the first one, as would search for this exact phrase. So, the results would be very relevant, but it would nevertheless be too restricted and not bring up references where the words are in close proximity to each other.

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