Clinical Research: Searching for Literature on a Topic

At this point, you should have completed several steps in the planning process:

• Formulate your research question with the purpose of your research in mind (e.g., clinical/patient care, research). We’ll discuss this in detail in the Clinical Questions/PICO section.
• Determine the scope of your research, including any limitations (e.g., population, language, time span).
• Familiarize yourself with your topic if it is new or unfamiliar to you. Both books and articles can give you background information to help you understand the topic as well as determine the breadth of relevant literature that is available on it.

Your next steps will be to:

• Choose your initial search terms and compile a list of alternative terms (e.g., acronyms, synonyms, variations on spelling) from your research questions as well as from abstracts or full-text articles you’ve read related to your topic.
• Keep track of the relevant articles that you’ve found as well as your search statements. They can be a helpful starting point for a librarian assisting you to find more information related to your topic and can be helpful if you need to update your research at a later time.

It’s important to take the time to familiarize yourself with the database you’ll be using. Each database will have a different interface depending on the database publisher or vendor (e.g., EBSCOhost, NLM, OVID). However, most have the same searching features (e.g., advanced searching, filters, fields, subject headings).