Systematic literature searching

• Do a cited reference search in GoogleScholar to be confident you have found all the relevant material on your topic. This is best done when you have completed your search in the databases and have identified the key papers. Simply put each title into GoogleScholar and see who has cited that paper.  This brings you right up to date and ensures there are no significant gaps in your results.

• Set up alerts so that you know when new papers are published in your field.

• Use key papers which you have already identified – are they actually present in this database? And if so does your search strategy retrieve them?
• If your key papers have not been retrieved, look at them carefully to identify additional keywords or subject headings to incorporate into your search.
• Be aware: finding all of your papers doesn't necessarily mean you have a good search. It's just an indication of progress.  

Practical tip: Make a 'test set'

In each database, papers will have an ID number, e.g. a Pubmed ID (PMID).

1. Build up a list of the IDs of your key papers.
2. Search for these, combining with OR to get your 'test set'
3. Combine your full search with the test set using OR
4. If the number stays the same as your test set, your search retrieves all papers
5. If the number is lower, your search is missing one or more key papers.

• High sensitivity/low precision. A sensitive strategy is one that should find all the relevant papers – but will recover a lot of irrelevant ones at the same time. A lot more sifting required!
• High precision/low sensitivity. In a precise (or specific) strategy a  high proportion of the results are relevant, but there is a risk of missing potentially useful records.

• Search for other publications by the same authors - they may have reported on  their work elsewhere, in English. Contact them to see if they have unpublished material in English they can share with you.
• Check on the language skills of people in your work group or in your department.  There may be someone who can do an informal translation.
• Many students on campus speak another language. You may be able to get help through a student society, or by advertising in the Students' Union; It may be worth asking in the Department of European Languages and Cultures or the Linguistics Department..
• If the material is online or in pdf form, Google translate may help you get a rough idea of the contents.
• If a formal written translation is essential, translation services are available through the North West Translators Network, the Institute of Translating & Interpreting and the Chartered Institute of Linguists. ;Translation fees can be high, so see if your project has a budget to cover this.

• Members of the University may use our Interlending and Document Supply service to obtain material from other libraries. 
• In some cases it may make sense for you to travel to the British Library or use another library which does have what you need.
• If you need to access other databases, you can still have access to some of these by virtue of being an Alumni, or have access to databases which are Open Access if you are a Community Member.

Librarians cannot devise search strategies for students. We can offer advice, training and feedback on:

• choosing where to search
• using Library databases
• formulating searches, for example using Boolean, keywords and subject headings
• saving and exporting searches and results
• using reference management software, specifically EndNote

For members of staff who need assistance devising searches for a review, we are happy to meet to discuss your project and offer advice and training. We don't currently offer a literature searching or information specialist service, or have a chargeable service that you can cost in to your project. At some times of year we may have more capacity than others. Please email facultylibrarians@lancaster.ac.uk to discuss your needs.