This document provides guidance on conducting effective literature searches for academic research. It recommends starting with a broad database like Summon and then refining searches by adding limits like full text availability, scholarly sources, and specific disciplines. Keywords should be planned carefully, considering related terms and both narrowing and broadening searches. SportDiscus and other databases like Medline and PsycInfo are especially useful for topics in sports. Tools for organizing references and generating citations correctly include Cite Them Right, Mendeley, and Flow. Librarians are available to help with any part of the research process.

1. Literature Searching
Useful things to make your
(academic) life easier

2. Housekeeping
• How’s it going?
• Any questions so far?
• Can you find your
recommended reading?
• Do you know who to
contact for help?
• Library Subject Guides?

3. Getting started
By tableatny (BXP135671) [CC-BY-2.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.
0)], via Wikimedia Commons

4. Access from myUniHub > My Study page > My Library > Library Subject
Guides
Hover your mouse over Resources to see pages on specific topics, e.g.
Finding Journal Articles

5. Starting your search

6. Summon
Searches journals,
books and more
Good starting point
for a basic search
NOT specific to sport!
Doesn’t do specific or
complex searching

7. Refine, refine, refine
 Full text
online
Scholarly &
peer review
 Journal
Articles only
 Discipline,
e.g. recreation
& sports
 Date range

8. What are you looking for?
• Briefly summarise your topic
(doesn’t have to be detailed)
• Can you sum up your topic in only 5 words? 3
words?

9. Keywords
• Brainstorm – it will save you time later!
• Searching one word for your concept will not
necessarily bring you all the results! And
sometimes none.
Not everyone uses the same terminology for
one idea
• Can use the worksheet if you like (also helps
you organise how to combine the terms with
‘AND’ or ‘OR’)

10. Planning your search - keywords
1. Pick out your concepts and separate them
–Concentration, performance, tennis etc
2. Think of other words that are different
from your key words but represent similar
concepts
–Attention control, focus, attentional
strategies, racket/racquet sports etc

11. Planning your search - keywords
3. Be Prepared
Think of narrower words that fit into your topic and wider
concepts that your topic fits into.
You will often need to:
A. widen your search by using larger terms or concepts to
produce more results
OR
B. narrow your search if you produce too many results, by
using more specific terms that fit into your concept
• NOTE: if you narrow or widen ALL your concepts you will
make your life too hard – choose one or two

12. concentration
• Concentrat*
• Attention
• Focus
• “Attention control
training”
• “Attentional strategies”
performance
• Ways of measuring
performance
• Perform*
tennis
• Racket sports
• Type of competition
What research has
been conducted on
improving
concentration and
performance in
tennis players?
Specific
egs
• Specific groups of athletes
•Age?
•Gender?
•Level – elite etc?

13. Back to your topic
• Narrow it down to some key words
• Swap with your neighbour – add some they
haven’t thought of

14. AND / OR.....WHY?

15. Key databases for Sport
• Sport Discus
• Medline / PubMed
• PsycInfo
• Science Citation Index
• Science Direct

16. Sport Discus
• After a short demo...
• Try searching for some articles on your topic
• Use the ‘check for full text’ links

17. ...is free and full of stuff!

18. Personalising Google Scholar
• Did you know you can set up Google Scholar to link
to everything you have paid access to through the
University?
• Google Scholar > Settings

19. Personalising Google Scholar…
• Click on Library
Links on left hand
side
• Search for and
select Middlesex
University, then
Save

20. Searching Google Scholar

21. Getting Full text of journal articles
• MyUniHub > My Study > My Library to log you in
• If you’re not lucky… REMEMBER – it won’t always be directly
available to you – especially at MSc level
• Double-check (library catalogue)
• Google Scholar
• Authors’ & institutions’ websites
• Researcher networks (e.g. ResearchGate), contacting authors
• Inter-Library Loans

22. Getting Full text of journal articles
22
• Troubleshooting guide can be found here
– http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/accessingelectronicresources
• If you’re not lucky… REMEMBER – it won’t always be directly
available to you – especially at MSc level
– Double check the library catalogue by copying journal name into the ‘journal
search’. If we have it there’ll be a record and a link with the dates we have
access to.
– Go to Google Scholar and look for PDF signs, check ‘all x versions’
– Search for Author’s website/institution’s repository, often they have uploaded
a pre-publication version
– ResearchGate, Academia.edu…
– Emailing authors
– Order a copy via the inter-library loan service (you’ll be emailed with a link to
a PDF) (£3.00 added to your library account)
http://unihub.mdx.ac.uk/study/library/resources/ill/index.aspx

23. Citation indexes
• Which articles have cited an earlier article
• Find articles on similar/related subject
• How many times an article has been cited
• Best journals in your field

24. Google Scholar citations

25. Science Citation Index

26. Staying up to date in your area
• Most of the databases have an option to set
up an account, so you can save searches and
set up alerts or RSS feeds for new articles

27. Staying up to date – citation alerts
• In Science Citation Index
• For articles significant to your work/dissertation – get
an alert when it is cited in new research

28. 28
Attribution

29. Referencing tools
• Cite Them Right
• Flow
• Mendeley

30. Shows you how to reference just
about any source using Harvard
referencing style
Other referencing styles e.g. APA are
available for the main resource types
Access via MyUniHub / Subject guides

31. Online site to manage references,
subscribed to by the University
Access through the Databases list on
MyUniHub
Generate your references in many
different styles – including journals
Help available on Subject Guides

32. Freely available software
Online and desktop
versions
BOTH
Store and annotate PDF
files
Available to you after
you’ve left MDX
Share references and notes
with groups

33. Need help?
• Librarians in the Study Hub (1st floor of Sheppard
Library) during core hours Mon-Fri
• Ask a Librarian http://askalibrarian.mdx.ac.uk/
• SES Library Subject Guide – Jo’s contact details and
presentations/helpsheets
http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/sport