5. No, seriously…what’s the point?
• What am I doing?!
• How do I get
started?!
• Wait…what’s this
about peer review?
Photograph : Scary Cat Effects, 2006, by santanartist, is used
under a Creative Commons Attribution license
A lit search helps you answer all of these concerns!
6. What’s the end result?
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
IMRaD
Lit review goes here
7. Lit Review Basics
• Keep a working
bibliography!
• Stay scholarly
• Find a few recent articles,
follow citations, look for
landmarks
• Be critical– find other
studies’ limitations
• To cite it, read it
Photograph : Writing, 2012, by Pascal Maramis, is used under a
Creative Commons Attribution license
10. Finding Articles
• Key databases
– CAB Abstracts
– PubMed (MEDLINE)
– Scopus*
– Agricola
– Google Scholar*
*allows you to see who cited a certain article
• How to use InterLibrary Loan (ILL)
• Use MSU Libraries’ website to get off-campus
access to everything
Remember: click the
“Find It” button to
get online access to
full-text PDFs
11. Search Tips
Search Tip Example
Use correct spelling—some databases
don’t autocorrect
ophthalmology
Try different keywords, synonyms, and
larger or smaller category terms
•pig: try swine, artiodactyla, ungulate
•theriogenology = breeding
Enclose phrases in quotes “blood brain barrier”
Search in specific fields by using the
Advanced Search
Depending on the database, you can
search by author, title, institutional
affiliation, even journal title or
pharmaceutical action
Filters are your friend! After searching, use filters to narrow
results by publication date, language,
type of publication, and more.
12. • Keep your work
organized
– EndNote
– RefWorks
– Zotero
Organized Citations Are Key
Photograph : Hi, I'm New in Town - Heard You're The Big Cat In
Charge , 2009, by godserv, is used under a Creative Commons
Attribution license
Oh no! Where
are my notes
on this
article?
What journal
was it in?
Ack, what was
the year and
volume
number?
13.
14. Citing your work is crucial
• You must give credit to:
– Free government publications (ex: CDC)
– Websites
– Unpublished works
– Images, graphs, anatomical drawings
Patrias K, author; Wendling D, editor. Citing Medicine: The NLM Style
Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers [Internet]. 2nd edition.
Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); 2007-. Chapter 2,
Books. 2007 Oct 10 [Updated 2011 Sep 15]. Available from:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7271/
15. Citation:
Office of Research Integrity
[Internet]. Rockville, MD:
Office of Research Integrity;
c2012. Case Summary:
Visvanathan, Mahesh; 2012
Jan 3 [cited 2012 Jun 18];
[entire screen]. Available from
http://ori.hhs.gov/content/ca
se-summary-visvanathan-
mahesh
16. Publishing and Presenting
• See http://library.msstate.edu/cvmguide/CVMSummerResearch for
resources on:
– Research design and statistical analysis
– Grants and research funding
– Research ethics
– Patents and licensing information
– Poster designing and printing
17. Take-home points…
• MSU Libraries can help you find and access
the information you need. If we don’t have it,
we can get it.
• Staying organized is essential.
• Ask for help! That’s what we’re here for.