Systematic searches
A well-structured literature search is important for a literature review, aiming to be exhaustive to reduce the risk of missing relevant studies. It's recommended to document the process transparently and use a comprehensive search strategy that covers keywords (technically, search terms) across multiple databases. Supplementary methods like forward and backward citation tracking can also enhance the thoroughness of the review.
Search techniques
In order to search effectively and find relevant articles, it is important to understand how the databases interpret your search terms and how you can combine them using operators like AND and OR.
Combining search terms with OR
leadership OR management
- retrieves any of the search terms
- the more search terms you combine with OR the better you cover the research area
- your key concepts and their synonyms become a search block
Combining search terms with AND
leadership AND communication
- retrieves all of the concepts
- makes the search narrower
Phrase searching
"transformative leadership"
- use if you want to search for a specific phrase
- excludes records where the search terms aren't written as a phrase
- narrows the search
Truncation
sustainab*
- often done with an asterisk (*)
- searches for word variations – example above searches both sustainable and sustainability
- broadens the search
Building your search block strategy
When you have formulated your research question and identified your key concepts, the next step is to build your search block strategy. In the example below we have three search blocks to be combined.
We connect the synonyms with OR and the search block with AND. We also use search techniques such as phrase searching and truncation to search efficiently.
Narrow your search
Most databases offer the option to narrow your search to only include peer-reviewed content. You can do this by checking the box labeled "peer review." You can also refine your search to include only certain years, specific document types, languages, and similar criteria.
Complementary searches - citation chaining
Citation chaining, sometimes called snowballing, is a search method where you look at the bibliographies of key articles to find other related articles. The articles retrieved this way might not have been retrieved in your database searches, making it a complementary search method. There are two main types of citation chaining, backward chaining and forward chaining.
Backward & forward chaining
- Backward chaining is a good way to find earlier research on your topic. Check the reference lists of key sources, to see which works they have cited.
- Forward chaining is a good way to find more updated research on your topic. Check citations for key sources to see which works that have cited them. This works best for articles that are a few years old, as they are more likely to have been cited than newer ones.