How to do a literature search Emma Coonan
What is a literature search? Searching for (chiefly) published work about a topic of your choice Aiming to get a sound grasp of your topic and its context Joining the academic dialogue
1. Where to look
Your sources Books - Newton (including eBooks) Journals* - Newton; * but you have to know (and search by) the journal title, not the journal article title
Search by journal title on Newton
… and on
Your sources journal articles book chapters conference papers Festschriften contributions reports reviews … ?
What is a citation database? Began as online indexes of journal articles Expanded to contain other document types Evolved in some cases into storage archives May contain, or link through to, full text Not comprehensive
Explore your subject area
2. How to look
Thinking about your topic Napoleon OR Nelson (either name) Napoleon AND Nelson (both names) Napoleon NOT brandy (excluded word) “Napoleon Bonaparte” (as a phrase)
Thinking about your topic Trafalgar = (naval OR sea OR maritime OR marine) AND (battle OR conflict OR combat OR action …)
Wildcards and truncation: ? and * ? replaces a character ‘Wom?n’ finds ‘woman’ or ‘women’ ‘Globali?ation’ finds British or American spelling * replaces any number of characters (including zero) ‘Pig*’ finds ‘pig’, ‘pigs’, ‘pigmy’, ‘pigment’... ‘Transfer*’ finds ‘transfer’, ‘transfers’, ‘transferable’, ‘transferability’ …
Search exercise 1.Go to and find the SCOPUS database 2.Search for material published from 2005 onwards on sustainable transport, with particular reference to cycling
Check for links to full-text Cupples, J., Ridley, E. Towards a heterogeneous environmental responsibility: Sustainability and cycling fundamentalism (2008) Area, 40 (2), pp Cahill, M. Why the u-turn on sustainable transport? (2007) Capitalism, Nature, Socialism, 18 (4), pp
Search exercise 1.Return to and find Web of Knowledge 2.Search for material on cyberbullying among adolescents
3. Where to start?
Start here …
… or here...
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