In your literature search process, it is important to make selections from the literature you find. Start by reviewing the found texts by reading the title and abstract. Use your established inclusion and exclusion criteria from step 2 to determine which texts are relevant for your project or assignment. These criteria help you determine the scope of the material you should read and select the literature that is relevant for your investigation. If you find too much relevant literature, you should adjust your search criteria to narrow the search by returning to step 1 and adjusting search words and search strings. This ensures that your final literature list is focused and manageable, so you can dive deep into the most relevant texts.
5.1 Review the found literature and select what you should read in depth.
5.2 Consider whether your search strategy is appropriate in relation to the found literature.
When you have to read an academic text, where you don't yet know if its relevant for your research, it is important that you do not spend too much time reading the entire text. Instead, you can carefully read the title, abstract or introduction, as well as keywords. These parts give you an overview of what the text is about and what its main contributions are. Thus, you can find out if it is relevant to your topic and matches your inclusion and exclusion criteria from step 2.
Academic articles are often structured as follows:
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Title Abstract: Keywords:
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Reflect on the results of your searches and the literature that you have found and screened. Here it often makes sense to look through your search words and search strings in step 1, or look at the scope of the search in step 2.
Too many results
If a search gives too many hits, you may need to narrow it down. It may be that your problem formulation is too broad and lacks focus, which can result in a search with many and irrelevant results. Here it can help to add more search words to the search (with AND) or keywords from articles that you have found that are relevant to your topic. You may consider revising your exclusion criteria e.g. year, geographical area, or target group (with filters or search words).
Too few results
If a search gives too few hits, you may need to expand your inclusion criteria, think more general search words or consider whether your problem formulation is too narrow. You can look at your search string and whether some of your search words may be too specific or if you have a very specific phrase search that limits your search. Also remember to check if your search string and use of Boolean operators (AND, OR) as well as parentheses and quotation marks are performed correctly.
Get a librarian to look at your search string if you are in doubt.
Apply your inclusion and exclusion criteria systematically when you search and select literature to review. This helps to ensure that your chosen sources are appropriate and relevant for your research.
Continuously evaluate your inclusion and exclusion criteria as you go through the literature. It may be necessary to adjust your criteria along the way to ensure that you include the most relevant sources and avoid inappropriate or irrelevant sources.
Balancing being systematic in a literature search involves using a structured approach to identify and select relevant literature without becoming too restricted or inflexible.
Although being systematic is important, it is also important to be flexible and open to adjustments along the way. You may find new search words or databases along the way, or you may need to revise your inclusion and exclusion criteria based on the results you find.
Be aware of your time and resource constraints and be realistic about how systematic you can be. Prioritize the most relevant sources and searches and be willing to adjust your approach as needed.
In the end, it depends on your specific situation how much is necessary. It is a balance between being thorough and comprehensive in your search and at the same time being pragmatic and efficient to achieve your needs within the established framework.
An effective way to test if your search has yielded reliable results is to use one (or more) key articles you already have and would expect to find in your search. Here’s how you can do it:
Search for the key article in the database using its title and/or author.
Combine the result of the key article’s search with your final search set using the AND operator.
If your search strategy does not capture the key article, look at the key article’s title, abstract, and subject words. Compare these with your search words and adjust your search strategy accordingly.
How? Take the results of your search on the key article and combine with your total search results using the AND operator.
For example: (“key article’s title/author”) AND (your search string)