Guide to Scientific WritingIntroduction
Preparing for a Literature Search
Before you begin your search, you (not surprisingly) need to determine what you are searching for. You should focus on the major concepts or processes involved in your study rather than the organisms or materials involved. The best way to start is to brainstorm:
- Describe your topic in one sentence
- Make a list of the keywords
- Create a list of related words and/or synonyms for your keywords.
It also often helps to make a list of broader and narrower terms for your keywords. This will allow you to increase or decrease (respectively) the number of articles found.
Example: I need to find articles on variation in genes in the genome.
Keywords |
Variation |
Genes |
Genome |
Synonyms |
Polymorphism Alleles |
Gene Trait |
DNA |
What do I do with all of these articles?