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Advanced literature searching for radiotherapy
- 1. Finding the evidence : Advanced literature searching Sarah Robinson Academic Liaison Librarian s.robinson@uos.ac.uk @libraryhamster
- 2. Aim: • To understand how 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. Your task • To conduct a literature search using appropriate search terms • Document the results • Apply inclusion and exclusion criteria • Assess and select (primary research) articles
- 4. Search terms Database 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 The end point •Your table of results •You will need to document how you found the articles that you are using for your critique Database search limits used By date <5 years old 242 By peer reviewed/academic journal 114 By language English 103
- 5. Your search should aim 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. • 6 stages to your literature search Stages in the literature search process 1 Identify Key concepts associated with your topic or research question 2 Select Search terms using related words, acronyms and abbreviations 3 Apply Search techniques to make your search more effective
- 7. • 6 stages to your literature search Stages in the literature search process 4 Databases Select the databases that you will use 5 Refine Using limiters available in the database 6 Final selection From your final selection make any further exclusions
- 8. What is your topic about? What do I want to research? Identify keywords How am I going to find articles? Databases to search – finding them Apply search techniques Save and document your search
- 9. Stages in the literature search process 1 Identify Key concepts associated with your topic or research question • Write out your research question • What are the key concepts associated with your topic? • How would you describe these topics in terms of keywords? • Each keyword will form the basis of a search string
- 10. Identify the key concepts – what are they? Dose in radiotherapy treatment of bladder cancer
- 11. Identify the key concepts – what are they? Your keywords will form the start of your search strings Search string Search string 1 Bladder cancer Search string 2 Radiotherapy Search string 3 Dose
- 12. Find alternative search terms 2 Select Search terms using related words, acronyms and abbreviations For each search string find alternative search terms
- 13. For each concept many 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
- 14. For each concept many 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
- 15. 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
- 16. 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
- 17. Stages in the literature search process 2 Select Search terms using related words, acronyms and abbreviations Search string Search string 1 MRI OR Magnetic resonance imaging Link your search terms together with OR
- 18. Stages in the literature search process 2 Search string Search string 1 Bladder Cancer or Urinary bladder neoplasm Search string 2 Radiotherapy or Radiation or Chemotherapy Search string 3 Dose or Dosage Link your search terms together with OR We will come on to those * in a moment
- 19. Stages in the literature search process 3 Apply Search techniques to make your search more effective Truncation - searching on the stem of a word (sometimes known as truncation or Wildcard searches) uses an * to find any letter after the point the * is placed. Boolean operators – OR/AND Phrase search Proximity operators
- 20. * Searches for variants 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
- 21. • Boolean operators are 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 – linking together Tip: it is good practice to use upper case for Boolean operators
- 22. 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
- 23. Phrase search examples Example search 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)
- 24. Phrase searching using proximity 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*
- 25. Some useful search strings • Search string Study OR research Search string UK OR United Kingdom OR Britain OR England OR Scotland OR Wales OR Ireland
- 26. Which of your topics can be truncated? Which search terms are grouped together using OR? Where do you use AND? Activity
- 27. Our example Search string Search string 1 “Bladder Cancer” or “Urinary bladder neoplasm” Search string 2 Radiotherapy or Radiation or Chemotherapy Search string 3 Dose or Dosage Search string 4 Study
- 28. Stages in the literature search process 4 Databases Select the databases that you will use A-Z eResources
- 29. Specialist databases to use to find journal articles Selecting your databases Nursing and health databases Name Provider Cinahl Nursing & Health Ebsco Health and Medical Collection Nursing & Health Proquest Science Direct Medical, Science, Health Elsevier Medline Medical Web of Science Pubmed central Scientific, Medical, Health PMC
- 30. Our example Search string Search string 1 MRI OR “Magnetic resonance imaging” Search string 2 Cartilag* OR meniscus Search string 3 Knee* OR patella* • Search on each search string separately – one line at a time • Combine search strings in search history view
- 31. Combining searches • From the search screen select Search history • Results are shown in list format – S1, S2 and S3 • Tick each search and select Search with AND
- 32. Stages in the literature search process 5 Refine Using limiters available in the database • Limit to a date range – last five or ten years • Limit to English language • Limit to Academic Journal/Peer review
- 33. Limit your search results 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
- 34. Stages in the literature search process 6 Final selection From your final selection make any further exclusions Exclusions will vary depending on your topic You will need to view abstracts to assess articles for inclusion or exclusion
- 35. Recap - Steps involved in your 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
- 36. A primary research paper 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
- 37. A primary research paper 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
- 38. The end point Your table of Results You will need to document how you found the articles that you are using for your critique 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
- 39. • Research methodologies include 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
- 40. • Will be about 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?
- 41. Found too many results? • 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
- 42. Found too few results? • 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?
- 43. Other tips: Do not search 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
- 44. Do not limit results 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
- 45. Do not limit to 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
- 46. If the full-text isn’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
- 47. • Use the A-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
- 48. If you can’t obtain 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
- 49. • Step-by-step guide to 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
- 50. Book a one-to-one tutorial 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
- 51. Thank you - questions s.robinson@uos.ac.uk Slides available
- 52. Image references All images sourced from Pexels https://www.pexels.com/photo-license/ Free for personal and commercial use No attribution required
Editor's Notes
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- Remember to think about acronyms or abbreviations As well as alternative spelling – especially around USA and UK spelling
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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)
- Could add study as a potential search string
- 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
- There are a number of databases to search, the key for nursing is Cinahl, however the databases listed could all be potentially useful
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Add this into the search Study OR Trials OR findings OR Qualitative OR Quantitative OR sample OR Participants OR RCTs OR Focus Groups
- Your table will show each step of your search including Search number Search terms used How many results found
- 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.
- 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.
- What you can do if you find too many results
- What to do if you have too few results
- Some tips
- 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
- 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