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Literature Reviews: Managing results

Plan ahead - use a workflow

In order to manage search results effectively it is important to set out a plan in advance. This should include selecting a suitable reference management tool (e.g. Zotero) and deciding how and when you will export results to your reference management tool, this is particularly important as you will be searching multiple databases.

If you want to have a consistent and systematic approach, consider creating and using a workflow. The workflow you use will depend on how you like to work and also on the reference manager you are using. There are many examples of how to do this. Here are two examples.


Example 1: 
Review results within the database and only export relevant records to your reference manager.

The video (below) demonstrates how to use this particular workflow when searching Ebsco databases and Zotero.

 

Example 2: 
Search each database and export ALL results for each database to your reference manager. Create a combined folder of all results, de-duplicate and screen results (read title and abstracts). Delete irrelevant articles and retrieve full-text of relevant articles.

Keep a log of searches

As you will most likely be searching multiple databases, keeping a log of searches you have carried out will help keep you organised and avoid duplication of effort. It is recommended that you keep a log of:

  • Name of database
  • The combination of keywords used to retrieve the search
  • Number of results obtained 
  • Date searched

 

This can be recorded in different ways e.g. table in word/excel, taking a screenshot, saving the search by setting up an account on the database.

Accessing and storing full-text

Some databases will provide you with the full-text of articles you find when you search them. Others will give you the option to check if the full-text is available via another DCU database (Check for full-text).

To check if we have access to a journal article, first search for the title and author of the article in Library Search. You can use the filters on the left of the screen to narrow the results to show 'articles' only - see a demonstration in the short video below.

If you don't easily find the journal article you're looking for in Library Search, you can also search for it in Journal Finder using the article's volume number, issue number and publication date. To do this, just enter in the title of the main journal, then use the details you have to narrow your result by year, then volume and issue number. From this point just click into the relevant issue and follow the page numbers down to find the article you're looking for. To access the article, click on PDF for full text.

If the library doesn't currently have access to the article you're looking for, check unpaywall.org for open access copies of the article. Find out more about searching unpaywall.org here

Think about how and where you store full-text downloads. Locally on hard drive, portable storage device, reference manager. Most reference managers allow you to attach PDFs to references. Depending on the database searched the full-text may have automatically been attached to the reference, if not you can do this easily. See instructions for adding PDFs to Zotero.

 

Reference Management Tools

Reference management tools allow you to save references from your searches to a personal online account. This will help keep track of your search results. Create separate folders for each database searched. 

These tools also work with word processors (e.g. Microsoft Word, Google Docs) so that when you’re writing assignments you can quickly add in-text citations, and they will automatically generate a reference list, formatted in a citation style of your choice. Although these tools save a huge amount of time, it is still extremely important to know how to reference correctly - see our Citing and Referencing page.

There are many other features of reference managers that will also help manage your searches e.g. adding notes, appending full-text, de-duplication of references. 

Zotero

Zotero is a free reference management tool which collects, manages, and cites your research sources. This is the tool supported by DCU Library. Check out our Zotero guide for further information including how to download the software to your own device.

Our Getting Started Video below is also a good place to start

Manually adding references to a reference manager

Not all the references you find will be the result of searching databases. These should still be recorded and/or added to your reference management tool. For example you may use citation tracking to follow references or you may use ‘hand searching’ methods. Most reference managers allow you to manually add references. See how to do this using Zotero.