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Advanced literature searching
- 1. Finding the evidence: Advanced literature searching Sarah Robinson Academic Liaison Librarian s.robinson@uos.ac.uk @libraryhamster
- 2. Aim: • To understandhow to create a strategy to search for articles (create a search strategy) • To apply your search strategy in a database to search for articles • To know how to document/record your search • To give you the opportunity to practice searching for articles Session aim
- 3. Creating your search– identifying keywords, techniques to use in your search Databases to search – finding them Searching Saving and documenting your search Session outline
- 4. Your task • Identifyan area of practice to change • To conduct a literature search related to your chosen topic or research question. • To assess and select (primary research) articles.
- 5. Your search shouldaim to be: Structured – you should use a methodical, consistent and structured approach to search, refine, evaluate and select your articles Auditable – you should record your search so that it is transparent and clear how you arrived at your results Tip – allow plenty of time for each stage of the searching process Advanced literature searching
- 6. The end point Yourtable of Results You will need to document how you found the articles that you are using for your SLR Search terms Cinahl S1 Spirit* OR faith* OR religio* OR God 44,024 S2 Terminal* OR end of life OR EOL OR dying OR death 185,032 S3 Acute care OR Actute setting* OR hospital* OR ward* OR inpatient* 469,505 S4 S1 AND S2 AND S3 1,020 S5 Trial* OR Find* OR quali* or quanti* or sample* or participant* or RCTs or focus group* 1,441,181 S6 S4 AND S5 645 Database search limits used By date <5 years old 242 By peer reviewed/academic journal 114 By language English 103
- 7. Steps involved inyour search for your dissertation • Scoping your search or background searching - this includes developing your search terms and undertaking an initial search, thinking about your inclusion and exclusion criteria, adapting your question if required • Initial search – record your results, question finalised • Final search – final documentation • Analysis of your results to assess suitability – use of inclusion and exclusion criteria to narrow your results down
- 8. Time line –allow yourself enough time Searching Identify articles and write up search process Articles identified and search write up complete – move on to analysis of articles
- 9. • Research methodologiesinclude cohort studies, RCTs (Randomised control trials), experiments • Data collection methods include questionnaires, observations, tests • Keywords such as statistics, validity, risk, ratios, sampling, scores • If in doubt remember quant = quantity Quantitative – how can you tell? Look for clues
- 10. • Will beabout people’s experiences, perceptions or attitudes • Research methodologies include grounded theory, ethnography, phenomenology • Data collection methods include semi- structured interviews, focus groups, narratives, diaries, observation or case studies • Likely to use smaller sample sizes • Remember qual = quality Qualitative research – how can you tell?
- 11. The PICO andPEO frameworks • The PEO and PICO models are used widely in nursing and health research and in professional practice and are strongly advocated by the NHS. • They help you to formulate an answerable question and to identify the key concepts within it. • They also help you to develop your inclusion and exclusion criteria. You should refer back to these when you are making your final selection of articles.
- 12. PEO – usefor qualitative research •P Population, patient or problem. Who are the users - patients, family, practitioners or community being affected? What are the symptoms, condition, health status, age, gender, ethnicity? What is the setting e.g. acute care, community, mental health? •E Exposure to a condition or illness, risk factor e.g. smoking, screening, care, treatment, rehabilitation, service etc. •O Outcome or themes e.g. experiences, attitudes, feelings, improvement in condition, responsiveness to treatment, care, mobility, quality of life or daily living.
- 13. PEO – applythe format to the question •Research topic: Why are women not using birth control to prevent multiple terminations of pregnancy? • P Women • E Use of birth control • O Prevention of multiple terminations •
- 14. PICO – usefor quantitative research •P Population, patient, problem - Who are the users (patients, family, practitioners or community) being affected? What are the symptoms, conditions, health status, age, gender, ethnicity? Is the setting acute care, community or mental health? •I Intervention - What is being done to or for the population - pharmacological (e.g. a drug) or non-pharmacological (e.g. therapy, screening, surgery, service or test). •C Comparison - Is there a control scenario or comparison element e.g. different treatment options, a new drug versus a placebo? Often there is no comparison. •O Outcome, expectation - What do you hope to achieve or change/measure, e.g. mortality rates, a patient’s condition or satisfaction, reduction in referrals or length of stay.
- 15. PICO – applythe format to the question •Research question: Are post-menopausal women on hormone replacement therapy at risk of developing breast cancer? • P Post-menopausal women • I Hormone replacement therapy • C Not applicable • O Risk of developing breast cancer
- 16. Defining your searchterms •Identify the key concepts (main themes) in your topic or research question. Select words or phrases that describe these. •Keep your search clean and lean, try and avoid the use of vague or unnecessary words and phases which do not describe your key concepts e.g. • The role of • The impact of • The link between • Problems with • The affect on • The implications of Tip! Each search string must relate to one concept to avoid muddled search results
- 17. • Write outyour research question • Identify your keywords Research question The experiences of fathers in caring for premature babies Identify the key concepts
- 18. Identify the keyconcepts The experiences of fathers in caring for premature babies Experiences AND Fathers AND Premature
- 19. For each conceptmany try to think of as many similar or related words as possible Example – my search includes the topic of diet Any of the following keywords could be used Find alternative search terms Diet Dietary Food Meals Malnutrition Nutrition Nourishment Eating Malnourishment Tip! Use the online thesaurus to help with this
- 20. For each conceptmany try to think of as many similar or related words as possible Example – my search includes the topic of improvement Any of the following keywords could be used Find alternative search terms Improvement Better Enhance Improve Quality Satisfaction Upgrade Tip! Use the online thesaurus to help with this
- 21. To search comprehensively,you should use various types of search terms. For example Synonyms and antonyms Synonyms (similar words) For Head Also use skull OR cranial For dying Also use end of life OR palliative For anxiety Also use stress OR burnout Antonyms (opposite words) For success Also use failure For nutrition Also use malnutrition For exercise Also use inactivity OR sedentary
- 22. To search comprehensively,you should use various types of search terms. For example Acronyms and abbreviations Acronyms and abbreviations Use MRI For Magnetic resonance imaging Use QOL For Quality of life Use EOL For End of life Alternative spellings Use organisation OR organization Use pediatrics OR paediatrics
- 23. Behaviour OR Anxiety, Irritable,Agitation, Agression, Confusion, Mood, Behaviour, Anxious, Disorientation, Stress, Sadness, Emotional state? Finding alternative search terms – example
- 24. Community Nursing OR Districtnurse, CNS, Home Nurse, SCPHN, Public health? Community nursing, health visitor Finding alternative search terms – examples
- 25. Mental Health OR Anxiety,psychotic, hallucination, bipolar, challenging behaviour, Apathy, Distress, Emotional state, Mood, Psychosis, Wellbeing Finding alternative search terms- example
- 26. Find alternative searchterms The experiences of fathers in caring for premature babies Experiences OR life OR lives OR living AND Fathers OR paternal OR dad OR dads AND Premature OR neonatal OR preterm OR pre-term
- 27. 1. Searching onthe stem of a word (sometimes known as truncation or Wildcard searches) uses an * to find any letter after the point the * is placed. 2. Boolean operators – OR/AND Apply techniques to make searching more effective
- 28. * Searches forvariants of the stem of a word and will increase you search results Nurs* finds: Nurse, nurses, nursing Child* finds: Child, children, childhood, childbirth Radiograph* finds: Radiographer, radiogaphers, radiography Manage* finds: Mange, manges, manger, managers, management, managing Midwif* finds: Midwife, midwives, midwifery Apply techniques to make searching more effective - Truncation
- 29. • Boolean operatorsare useful for broadening or narrowing your search results and to link keywords together OR broadens (or widens your search) by finding any word use it within your search string group your search words together on the same topic using OR AND narrows by finding all words Use it to combine your searches most databases have AND set up for you Apply techniques to make searching more effective - Boolean operators Tip: it is good practice to use upper case for Boolean operators
- 30. Fish AND Chips– Both things together, in terms of searching your article will have both search terms Fish OR Chips – One or the other, in terms of searching your article will have one or the other but not necessarily both Apply techniques to make searching more effective - Boolean operators Tip: it is good practice to use upper case for Boolean operators
- 31. Which of yourtopics can be truncated? Which search terms are grouped together using OR? Where do you use AND? Activity
- 32. Apply truncation andsearch operators The experiences of fathers in caring for premature babies Experience* OR life OR lives OR living AND Father* OR paternal* OR dad OR dads AND Prematur* OR neonat* OR preterm* OR pre-term*
- 33. Phrase search examples Examplesearch Search results Nurse education Words may appear in different search fields (e.g. title and abstract) so may be unrelated “Nurse education” Nurse education (no other variations will be found)
- 34. Phrase searching usingproximity operators • Database Phrase search Finds Cinahl Nurs* N1 educat* Education of nurses Educating nurses Nurse educator(s) Nurse as educator Nurses as educators Nursing education Nursing educators Proquest Nurs* N/1 educat* Medline Nurs* NEAR/1 educat*
- 35. Apply search techniquesand truncation Why are women not using birth control to prevent multiple terminations of pregnancy? Birth N1 control OR contracep* AND Terminat* OR abort* OR post-abort* OR postabort* AND Multiple OR subsequent OR repeat* OR recur*
- 36. Specialist databases touse to find journal articles Selecting your databases Nursing and health databases Name Provider Cinahl Nursing & Health Ebsco British Nursing Database Nursing & Health Proquest Nursing and Allied Health Nursing & Health Proquest Medline or Pubmed Medical Psychology Database Mental Health Proquest
- 37. Cinahl database • CumulativeIndex to Nursing and Allied Health – a specialist database for nursing, health, midwifery and radiography • Provides access to journal articles from academic and practice journals • Advanced search functionality enables deeper searching than Summon • Access Cinahl through the A-Z of eResources list Selecting your databases
- 38. Cochrane database • Includesthe Cochrane Reviews which are the gold standard of systematic. • Unlike other systematic reviews, Cochrane Reviews are regularly updated as new evidence becomes available and have an added level of rigor with special techniques to identify bias. • Systematic reviews are also included in Cinahl and Proquest databases. • Check that you are allowed to include systematic reviews in your selection of articles.
- 39. NHS healthcare (Athens)databases • Students in practice or on placement can register to access the NHS healthcare databases. • These complement university resources and are important sources of evidence which are available as long as you are in practice. • You will need an NHS Athens login for access. Your hospital librarian can assist with this. Or you can self-register • http://www.library.nhs.uk/hdas/simple http://www.library.nhs.uk/hdas/simple /
- 40. Combining searches • Fromthe search screen select Search history • Results are shown in list format – S1, S2 and S3 • Tick each search and select Search with AND
- 41. A primary researchpaper will usually describe itself as a study Other useful terms relating to primary research include: • Trials • Findings • Qualitative • Quantitative • Sample • Participants • RCTs • Focus groups Tip! Avoid using the word research as this is too generic or studies which is more likely to find systematic reviews Filtering to primary research
- 42. A primary researchpaper will usually describe itself as a study Other useful terms relating to primary research include: • Trial* OR Find* OR quali* or quanti* or sample* or participant* or RCTs or focus group* Tip! Avoid using the word research as this is too generic or studies which is more likely to find systematic reviews Filtering to primary research
- 43. Limit your searchresults using the refine options offered by the database (these vary) • Year of publication – normally the last 5-10 years, or since the latest guidance on the topic was published. • Academic or peer-reviewed journals – in order to exclude articles from practice journals • Language – to exclude articles in languages other than English. Refine your search results – inclusion and exclusion criteria
- 44. Found too manyresults? • Re-run your key search string as words in the title • Experiment with this as you may need to use the title for one of your search strings and leave the others as keyword searches • Remove truncation on the most common variant of a word, eg. For old* use older • Add in an extra search string
- 45. Found too fewresults? • Check your spelling • Add extra search terms to your search string e.g. parent* OR mother OR father • Remove the least well defined concept string (to widen out your search) • Are you searching in the right database?
- 46. Limits • Limit toa date range • Limit to English language • Limit to Academic Journal/Peer review
- 47. Other tips: Do notsearch within the abstract only • Best practice is to search within the article citation – this includes all the details about the article, including title, abstract and subject headings • Limiting your search to words in abstract is not recommended as not all papers include abstracts • An abstract only search would not search within title or the major/minor subject headings
- 48. Do not limitresults to full-text only • This is not good practice as your results will not be comprehensive • You will lose the most recent articles where full-text has been embargoed by publishers • Many citations may have embedded links to full-text • Full-text might be available by searching for the article title in Summon or Google
- 49. Do not limitto results to the UK • The geography limiter in Cinahl limits to articles published in the UK, not articles about the UK • This is not generally helpful as research done in other countries may still be applicable to the UK, eg. Australia, New Zealand, Canada where healthcare systems are similar
- 50. If the full-textisn’t available try the following • Cinahl articles – check the citation for embedded DOI link • Cut and paste the title of the article into Summon or Google I have a good article but there is no full-text- what can I do? DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000001638
- 51. • Use theA-Z of e-journals link to search for individual titles • You can usually browse all issues or search within a journal • Useful for accessing journals not included in standard databases Searching individual journals
- 52. If you can’tobtain the article from any of our sources we can order it for you. • You will need to fill in a resource request form, this must be signed and returned to the library either in person or by post (they can’t be scanned and emailed) • Allow 5 working days for documents to be sent to you Resource requests
- 53. • Step-by-step guideto advanced literature searching including: • Links to past dissertations with example literature searches • Video search guides – database examples • Thesaurus – help finding search terms http://libguides.uos.ac.uk/AdvancedLiteratureSearchGuide Advanced literature guide
- 54. Book a one-to-onetutorial Use the booking page on the learning services website Small groups can be booked by numbers need to be advised of first if possible Skype appointments possible Support with your question or choice of articles – please see your tutor Follow up support for your literature search
- 55. Thank you -questions
Editor's Notes
- #3 The Aim of this session is to introduce searching to you, by the end of the session you should be able to create a search strategy apply it to a database and search for articles. The session will also outline how to document or record your search The workshop has been designed around your assignment and what you need to do for that which is
- #4 The Aim of this session is to introduce searching to you, by the end of the session you should be able to create a search strategy apply it to a database and search for articles. The session will also outline how to document or record your search The workshop has been designed around your assignment and what you need to do for that which is
- #7 Your table will show each step of your search including Search number Search terms used How many results found
- #10 To search effectively you need to identify the keywords – or search terms to use in your search To these search terms you can then apply some search strategies We will then identify which databases to use Have a go at undertaking a search Find out how to apply limits to a search Finally document your search
- #11 Quantitative – related to quantity – related to measuring through numbers Seeks answers to research questions through measurements Methodologies used might include cohort studies – following a group of people through something over a period of time. Randomised control trials – normally associated with treatment and its effectiveness Methods of data collection to look out for include questionnaires, observations and tests In published articles look out for keywords – statistics, validity, risk, ratios, sampling or scores.
- #12 Qualitative = quality related to assessing or measuring through experiences Seeks to answer research questions through experience Methodologies used might include grounded theory – offering a systematic approach to research where the researcher aims to develop theory that can explain behaviour – often related to predictions about behaviour Ethnographic research design – originally used by anthropology – understanding other points of view Phenomenology – or the lived experience of individuals Methods of data collection to look out for include questionnaires, observations and tests In published articles look out for keywords – statistics, validity, risk, ratios, sampling or scores.
- #13 There are six steps to your literature search process, we will look at each stage in more detail but they can be defined as the following steps The first stage is to identify the key concepts associated with your topic or research question, these topics need to be converted into search terms or keywords that we will enter into a database Select – or decide on your search terms thinking about related terms that you could also search for , this might include acronyms or abbreviations, Use standard search techniques (Boolean operators, truncation, to make your searching more effective
- #14 4. Once you have your search terms selected you can go on to select the databases that you want to use. The key database for Nursing subjects is Cinahl, however there are others 5. When you have your search results you can apply date and language limitators 6. Your final selection can be made and you can apply any further exclusion criteira
- #16 PEO Population Exposure Outcome
- #18 Population Intervention Comparison Outcome
- #21 Once you have identified the topic that you want to investigate it is helpful to write out your research question and identify key words that can be used for searching Even if you only have a vague idea about what you want to research it can be helpful to write down what it is that you are looking for Supposing my research question is about the experiences of fathers in caring for premature babies my keywords can be identified as experiences, Fathers, premature babies
- #23 Our aim is to search a database comprehensively, in order to do this we need to consider alternative words for your concepts this is because not everyone refers to the same thing in the same way, people use different words to describe the same thing. We can’t guarantee that different articles are going to talk about the same thing using the same words There is a helpful online thesaurus on the Advanced searching page in the nursing guide online – the thesaurus can be found in step 3 developing your search terms. Use this to find alternative keywords to common subjects.
- #24 Our aim is to search a database comprehensively, in order to do this we need to consider alternative words for your concepts this is because not everyone refers to the same thing in the same way, people use different words to describe the same thing. We can’t guarantee that different articles are going to talk about the same thing using the same words There is a helpful online thesaurus on the Advanced searching page in the nursing guide online – the thesaurus can be found in step 3 developing your search terms. Use this to find alternative keywords to common subjects.
- #25 Further examples of alternative keywords are synonyms – similar words to describe the same thing Or Antonyms – opposite words for something – this can sometimes yield results
- #26 Remember to think about acronyms or abbreviations As well as alternative spelling – especially around USA and UK spelling
- #33 Using truncation will broaden your search so that you find more results Where you put the * symbol will result in a database finding anything after the * (see examples)
- #41 There are a number of databases to search, the key for nursing is Cinahl, however the databases listed could all be potentially useful
- #42 Cinahl is the key database for nursing and health journals, includes academic and practice journals It is set up to enable you to do a literature search easily – following the set protocols for combining searches
- #46 If your initial search comes back with too many results we need to add studies into the mix, Add this into the search Study OR Trials OR findings OR Qualitative OR Quantitative OR sample OR Participants OR RCTs OR Focus Groups
- #47 Add this into the search Study OR Trials OR findings OR Qualitative OR Quantitative OR sample OR Participants OR RCTs OR Focus Groups
- #48 There are a number of ways to limit your search – using inclusion and exclusion criteria We can limit to year of publication – or a date range We can limit to Academic or peer-reviewed journals, this will exclude articles from practice journals so we know we are getting academic literature We can also limit to articles that are in English This should help to refine your search further
- #49 What you can do if you find too many results
- #50 What to do if you have too few results
- #51 What to do if you have too few results
- #52 What to do if you have too few results
- #53 Some tips
- #57 Resource request allowances L4 5 requests countersigned by the tutor L5 5 requests free of charge L6 10 request free of charge Taught post grad 10 requests Research post grad 20 requests Staff 20 requests
- #58 Resource request allowances L4 5 requests countersigned by the tutor L5 5 requests free of charge L6 10 request free of charge Taught post grad 10 requests Research post grad 20 requests Staff 20 requests