CIVIL Enginieerin A/Prof Hadi Khabbaz Room 2.511B How to keep up to date in your field Tips for Effective Literature Searching

If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it? Albert Einstein

RESEARCH is an endeavour that scholars intentionally set out to enhance their understanding of a phenomenon and expect to communicate what they discover to the large scientific community. (Leedy and Ormrod, 2005, p. 4) Publish or Perish

“If I have seen a little farther, it is by standing on the shoulder of giants” Why do we need to use Literature? (Isaac Newton, )

“Standing on the shoulder of a giant” Add at least an epsilon to the body of knowledge

We Need More Information Confusion Information The volume of publication output has exploded. More Information less confusion

More Information Brings More Confusion!? Confusion Information The volume of publication output has exploded. Too much Information more confusion!?

Question to a Tasmanian Devil: How do you eat a horse? Ans: In small bites. Teamwork!?

How to Reduce Confusion with Heaps of Information Collect and integrate information in a systematic and well-organised approaches.

How to Reduce Confusion An Example in Engineering Discipline. Historical Background Theoretical Aspects Mathematical Aspects Design Aspects Experimental Aspects (Field Measurements, Lab Testing) Numerical Analysis Construction Aspects Social, Economical and Environmental Aspects Case Studies/Case Histories Worked Examples Lessons learnt from previous collapsed structures/disasters

Tips for how keep up to date in the field

Try appropriate and different key words Starting Point: TIPS

13 SAMPLE

You cannot rule out the possibility that your research topic has already been addressed in a recently published paper. It is important to keep up with published works in your field and use a structured search strategy to make sure you don’t overlook similar publications. Large volume of publications Source: Editage

Avoid duplicating already published work Provide strong justification and discussion for your study based on previous research Determine the best methods for your research Explore gaps and weaknesses in existing studies Become familiar with terminologies in your field Benefits of a good literature search Source: Editage

Be familiar with alternative vocabulary used in your topic Search multiple academic databases, e.g. ScienceDirect Check publisher databases and journal websites databases e.g., Scopus, ISI Web of Elsevier’s ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, SpringerLink, Wiley Online More Tips Source: Editage

Keep a written record of your searches. Maintain a list of keywords and keyword combinations Use a reference manager like Endnote / MS-Excel Use alerts to keep up with new publications. e.g. Table-of- Contents (TOC) alerts, citation alerts, and keyword alerts. More Tips Source: Editage

Backward Searching: Follow the citations and browse through the reference list of relevant articles to find more related articles. Forward Searching: Look at papers that have cited relevant articles since publication. Backward and Forward Searching Source: Editage Accept to be the reviewer of journal papers and research applications.

Read the related work (or previous work) section of the papers in the working set of papers. You'll usually find at least a few papers related to your subject. Include them in the working set. (This is a backward search.) Do a search on Google Scholar or Citeseer for each paper in your working set. See what papers cited those papers, include them in the working set. (This is a forward search.) Backward and Forward Searching Source: Google Scholar Cite Seer.

Attend conferences and seminars in your field. Check conference proceedings as they can provide the latest findings and discussions on the topic you’re studying. Try to search various literature: including theses and dissertations, books, conference proceedings government and organizational reports, technical, and statistical reports and working papers Social Networking Sites : e.g. Facebook, Linkedin ? Conferences and Networking

THAnk You & Good Luck With your Research