The literature review should:
The literature review is an important part of your research paper because it sets the stage for your own research. You are letting the reader know what knowledge exists (previous research articles) and how your own research fits into that research conversation.
Read the abstract. Look for the purpose of the article, methods, results, and the authors' conclusion about the research. Knowing this will make reading the article easier.
Skim the headings and look for any charts or graphs in the article. Can you understand the charts or graphs? If not, is there someone you can ask for help? Or, is there another article that might be easier to read?
Ask questions about the article before you read it.
Read the article and take notes if necessary. Try to answer your questions.
| Strategy building search tips for PsycINFO | |
| Use this: | To do this: |
| quotation marks | Exact phrase searching |
| AND | Combine terms (narrows the search) |
| NOT | Omit or ignore a term |
| OR | Expand the search to include either or both terms |
| parenthesis | Structure a Boolean search, nesting terms and phrases |
| * | Truncate a term or complete a phrase |
| ? | Wildcard used to replace a single letter |
| # | Wildcard used for alternate spellings |
| N and a number | Finds terms near x terms |
| W and a number | Finds terms within x terms in order |
| Try not to use punctuation | Database will ignore unless it is a question mark |
| Try not to use stop words | Database will ignore these |