Basic introduction to literature search for UKM Dr Family Medicine postgraduate students

1. Literature Search
Research module – Basic research I
Dr Tan Chai Eng
Dept of Family Medicine
UKM
Some slides courtesy of Dr Aida Jaffar and Dr Saharuddin Ahmad
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

2. Introduction
• A good literature review is needed to uncover
the gaps in knowledge and justify the need for
the intended research topic.
• A thorough search is needed in order to
provide a good review of the literature.
• Missing relevant articles in your literature
review may lead to unintentional duplication
of studies, leaving out important study
objectives, etc.
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

3. Literature review vs literature search
• A literature review is an analysis of research
articles related to your topic.
• Literature search is the process of finding the
research articles for your literature review.
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

4. Literature review- function
1. To avoid "reinventing the wheel".
2. Gives credits to previous researcher.
3. Demonstrates your knowledge of the research problem.
4. Demonstrates your understanding of the theoretical and
research issues related to your research question.
5. To be able to critically evaluate relevant literature and to
integrate and synthesize the existing literature.
6. Provides new theoretical insights or develops a new model
as the conceptual framework for your research.
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D., C.Psych. How to Write a Research Proposal
This slide is courtesy of Dr Aida Jaffar and Dr Saharuddin Ahmad
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

5. How to do a literature search?
• Identify your research questions.
• Identify a database to search, e.g. PubMed,
Google Scholar, OVID, Mendeley
• Use suitable search terms to make sure you get
the most appropriate results
• Obtain the full-text (don’t just use the abstract!)
• Read and appraise the paper.
• Analyse findings from various papers and present
the summarized findings in your literature review.
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

6. Identify your research questions
• A clear and concise research question will help
you do a focused literature search.
• In medical research, the PICO format is useful.
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

7. PICO
A method to formulate a precise question :
• Population / Patient
• Intervention / Inquiry
• Comparison / comparator
• Outcome
This slide is modified from slides by Dr Aida Jaffar and Dr Saharuddin Ahmad
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

8. Problem : Would aspirin reduces CVD events in diabetics?
Item Description
Population / Patient Patients with diabetes mellitus
Intervention / Inquiry Aspirin
Comparison / Comparator No aspirin
Outcome Cardiovascular events
PICO
Search terms: “diabetes mellitus” AND aspirin AND “cardiovascular events”
This slide is modified from slides by Dr Aida Jaffar and Dr Saharuddin Ahmad
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

9. Another example of PICO
• What is the prevalence of migraine among
medical students?
Item Description
Population / Patients Medical students
Intervention / Inquiry Migraine
Comparison / Comparator None
Outcome Prevalence
Search terms: “medical students” AND migraine AND prevalence
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

10. Literature search terms
Term Meaning in layman terms Analogy
Database Huge collection of research articles
and journals
MPH Bookstore
Journal A collection of research articles and
other scientific peer-reviewed
articles published periodically.
Magazine like Reader’s
Digest, National
Geographic, Women’s
Weekly
Journal article A single topic / article within a
journal
a feature story in the
magazine
Journal citation A summary of the bibliographic data
of the article: e.g. author names,
title, journal name, volume, pages
etc.
Location of which page in
which magazine
Journal abstract A summary of the journal article
including introduction, objectives,
methods, results and discussion /
conclusion.
A summary of the feature
story in the magazine,
providing overview of the
article.
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

11. Databases for literature search
• PubMed
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed)
– Largest collection of journal citations in medical
research by the National Library of Medicine
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

12. Databases for literature search
• Scholar Google (http://scholar.google.com)
• Large collection of scholarly and peer-reviewed
articles. However, the scientific rigor of articles
included need to be appraised carefully.
No wikipedia or
non-professional
websites
included in the
search results,
unlike the
conventional
Google
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

13. Databases for literature search
• Mendeley (http://www.mendeley.com/)
• A free reference manager with a crowd-
sourced research catalog.
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

14. Databases for literature search
• OVID – via PPUKM library portal
• A library-subscribed portal which can retrieve
research articles / citations from Medline
(PubMed) and other resources
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

15. Databases for literature search
• ProQuest – via PPUKM library portal
• Another subscribed database to retrieve research
articles from MedLine and ProQuest collections
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

16. Search terms
• Keywords to be entered into the database for
searching – usually based on PICO
• Subsequent examples using PubMed
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

17. Searching in PubMed
• Fill in the search terms in the search field
• Boolean operators may be used
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

18. Database features to support natural
language
• Truncation (e.g. *, $) used to search for different
word stems and word endings
– e.g. use comput* to find computer, computers, computed,
computing, etc.
• Wild cards (e.g. *, ?) used to search for spelling
variants
– e.g. use leuk*mia to find leukaemia or leukemia
• Proximity and adjacency operators (e.g. adj or near)
– e.g. motor near2 accidents
This slide is courtesy of Dr Aida Jaffar and Dr Saharuddin Ahmad
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

19. Database features to support
controlled vocabulary
• MeSH (medical subject heading terms)
– all articles are categorized under subject headings
by NLM. Using MeSH terms can help to identify
articles belonging to this category.
• Mapping
• Explode functions
• “See Under”, “Used For” and “See Also”
references
This slide is modified from slides by Dr Aida Jaffar and Dr Saharuddin Ahmad
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

20. Boolean - OR
DM OR ED
DM
ED
Use to combine like terms or terms within the same concept
This slide is courtesy of Dr Aida Jaffar and Dr Saharuddin Ahmad
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

21. Boolean - AND
DM
ED
DM AND ED
Use to combine together different concepts
This slide is courtesy of Dr Aida Jaffar and
Dr Saharuddin Ahmad
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

22. Boolean - NOT
DM NOT ED
DM
ED
Use to exclude terms from your search
This slide is courtesy of Dr Aida Jaffar and
Dr Saharuddin Ahmad
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

23. Search results
Filters
Sort by
date,
relevance,
author or
title
Send
selected
references
to email
or save as
a file for
your
reference
manager
Click the
title to
read the
abstract
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

24. Abstract
Bibliographic
information
Abstract to help you
decide whether you
want to read the full
paper
Author keywords to
help you with search
terms
Some provide free full-
text
You can choose to read
related citations too Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

25. Still confused?
• Information skills can be learnt from hands-on
workshop by the library
– Contact person email:
liyana.jasman@ppukm.ukm.edu.my
- Call : 03-9145 5337/5330
• PubMed online tutorial:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/disted/pubmedt
utorial/015_010.html
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

26. Library support services
• Various databases available via library portal
• Some fulltext accessible in-campus, only
selected articles accessible off-campus
• Can request for fulltext articles via iQuest
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

27. What do you do with the references
you have obtained?
• Sort them using a reference manager e.g.
EndNote, Mendeley, etc for easy filing
• Reference managers allow you to cite as you
write. Automatically arranges the citations
according to the referencing styles in your
assignments.
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

28. A Literature Review Table
• Helps to organize your literature search
findings to ease analysis of your search
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

29. A reference manager
Organizes your references to
ease retrieval
Allows easy citing in your
writing / assignment
Basic Research Module 1
Dr Fam Med programme,
UKM

30. How to get a reference manager?
• Install EndNote at Jabatan Teknologi
Maklumat, PPUKM (institutional licence)
• Free reference manager – Mendeley at
http://www.mendeley.com/
• Register for Wizfolio under PPUKM library
(institutional subscription)
• Training workshops available from library.
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

31. Try out some hands-on assignment
• Try out some hands-on search based on the
assignment provided
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM

32. Thank you
Enjoy searching and reading!
Basic Research Module 1. Dr Fam Med
programme, UKM