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BME 701: Selected Topics in BME / Writing a Review Article for Biomedical Engineering Research

Finding the Literature You Need

Determine your criteria prior to starting your search to ensure the most efficient use of your time.

Inclusion/exclusion

  • Time frame

  • Language

  • Source type and focus

    • Articles? Books? Only peer-reviewed? Review articles? Grey literature?

Assemble a list of keywords

  • Reduce your research question to terms and concepts

  • Start broad, get narrower as keywords develop

  • Keep track of what searches work and what don’t

Next, decide where to do your research:

  1. Literature overview

    • Citation indexes: Web of Science and Scopus; PubMed

  2. Full text; journals:

    • Publisher databases: ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, Wiley Online Library, etc.