A search of the literature is an essential part of every research project. There are two areas to be searched when you are beginning a research project:
Main types of literature:
Typically, a literature review involves the following steps:
Select a research topic - A general starting point is crucial, but you will refine your research question as you discover potential problems to be solved or questions to answer. OneSearch and Google Scholar are excellent tools for basic searching, and your early results can provide keywords, subject terms, and other language that you can add to modified searches.
Search the literature - Choose pertinent databases from the library's list of Databases. Retrieve the articles and information that represent seminal research in your discipline, current research being done, and related research in your field or other fields. Pay attention to article bibliographies/references, which often provide many more relevant articles. Be sure to document your searches and save your citations to a citation management tools such as Mendeley or Zotero.
Share with your advisor - When you have collected all relevant articles, share your bibliography with your advisor, who can determine areas needing further support, or branches of relevant research that you had not thought about.
Read and analyze - This step encompasses a few parts: initial overview of abstracts and summaries to determine subject areas or subtopics of the research; critical readings to determine relevance to your research question; and analysis of the research that includes writing a very brief note summarizing the key points and contributions of each paper.
Write the review - The review is written as a critical evaluation which thoroughly communicates not just an overview of the subject matter, but more importantly the connections among the literature and your understanding of its relevance.
Include a bibliography - The literature review should include citations for each of the works discussed. We recommend you use Zotero or Mendeley to store your citations and automatically format them in the style of your choice.
Machi, L. A., & McEvoy, B. T. (2009). The literature review: Six steps to success. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press.
Pautasso, M. Ten simple rules for writing a literature review. Ed. Philip E. Bourne. PLoS Computational Biology 9.7 (2013): e1003149.
1. Start your search:
OneSearch - Search most of the library's databases simultaneously. It also allows you to expand your search to other libraries' collection. To learn more about OneSearch, go to Using OneSearch to find library resources in Evans Library.
Please note: OneSearch does not search all the library databases. To expand your search, try searching individual databases.
Google Scholar - Find Florida Tech journal articles and books in Google Scholar by configuring preferences in Google Scholar. For instructions, view this video from NCSU libraries. (Note: Under Settings/Library links, check off all with Florida Institute of Technology.) After doing this, whenever you do a search in Google Scholar, click on "Find @ Florida Tech" for direct access to articles from our licensed databases. You will need your Florida Tech/Tracks log in info to access these resources.
2. Refine your search by searching specific resources (databases, journals, and ebooks):
A to Z Databases - Search for articles in individual databases, or search by Subject to limit to your area of research.
eJournals - Search for individual journal and newspaper publications. Limit by Subject to search your area of research. See Tutorial: Finding Journals in the Library
eBooks - Find the full text of all our online books.
3. Save your references/citations:
Citation Managers - This guide contains recommended information about citation managers such as Mendeley, EndNote Basic and Zotero.
4. Advanced searching techniques:
Effective, efficient searches retrieve the items that are most closely matched to your research, reducing the time that you will have to spend evaluating the results.
Scopus - Use this "citation" database of peer-reviewed literature to find a list of citations/references an author has used in his/her article or book, and the publications and authors that cite the article/book.
Note: By examining who has been cited, you can quickly build up a picture of the main contributors to knowledge on your topic, and what resources (journals, articles, books) are best to use.
Dissertations &Theses @FloridaTech - access to dissertations and theses published by Florida Tech students.
Library Catalog - search for print copies of Florida Tech's theses and dissertations. Example: Florida Institute of Technology and thesis and psychology
Global Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Search - search approximately 4 million theses from more than 200 universities worldwide, including Florida Tech.
PQDT Open - provides the full text of open access dissertations and theses free of charge. Note: the authors of these dissertations and theses have opted to publish as open access.
Not finding in our collection the materials/resources you need? Here are other ways/places you can get them.