This slide presentation shows you the overview and basic of how to search academic literature digitally.

1. Literature Search
Somkiat Asawaphureekorn
M.D., M.Sc. (Clinical Epidemiology)
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2. Department of Ophthalmology,
Faculty of Medicine, Srinagarind Hospital
Khon Kaen University,
Khon Kaen, Thailand.
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3. Before You Search
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4. Before You Search
• Know your resources
• Form your questions, search terms
• Form your search strategy
• Search syntax
• Record your search strategy & results
• Try all relevant databases
• Refine your search as required
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5. Before You Search
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6. Before You Search
Your Question
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7. Before You Search
Your Question PICO
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8. Before You Search
Your Question PICO
Background Question?
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9. Before You Search
Your Question PICO
Yes
Background Question? Text book
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10. Before You Search
Your Question PICO
Yes
Background Question? Text book
No
Question Type
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11. Before You Search
Your Question PICO
Yes
Background Question? Text book
No
Therapy
Question Type Etiology
Diagnosis
Prognosis
etc.
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12. Before You Search
Your Question PICO
Yes
Background Question? Text book
No
Therapy
Question Type Etiology
Diagnosis
Prognosis
Study Design etc.
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13. Before You Search
Your Question PICO
Yes
Background Question? Text book
No
Therapy
Question Type Etiology
Diagnosis
Prognosis
Study Design etc.
RCT
Systematic Review
Cohort
etc.
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14. Before You Search
Your Question PICO
Yes
Background Question? Text book
No
Therapy
Question Type Etiology
Diagnosis
Prognosis
Study Design etc.
RCT
Identify the best available resource Systematic Review
Cohort
etc.
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15. Before You Search
Your Question PICO
Yes
Background Question? Text book
No
Therapy
Question Type Etiology
Diagnosis
Prognosis
Study Design etc.
RCT
Identify the best available resource Systematic Review
Cohort
etc.
Search the database
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16. General Search Strategy
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17. General Search Strategy
Define relevant, searchable terms
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18. General Search Strategy
Define relevant, searchable terms MeSH
EmTree
Free text
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19. General Search Strategy
Define relevant, searchable terms MeSH
EmTree
Free text
Define alternate terms
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20. General Search Strategy
Define relevant, searchable terms MeSH
EmTree
Free text
Define alternate terms
Design search strategy
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21. General Search Strategy
Define relevant, searchable terms MeSH
EmTree
Free text
Define alternate terms
Design search strategy AND
OR
NOT
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22. General Search Strategy
Define relevant, searchable terms MeSH
EmTree
Free text
Define alternate terms
Design search strategy AND
OR
NOT
Relevant results?
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23. General Search Strategy
Define relevant, searchable terms MeSH
EmTree
Free text
Define alternate terms
Design search strategy AND
No OR
NOT
Relevant results?
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24. General Search Strategy
Define relevant, searchable terms MeSH
EmTree
Free text
Define alternate terms
Design search strategy AND
No OR
NOT
Relevant results?
Yes
Summarize & Appraise the evidence
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25. General Search Strategy
Define relevant, searchable terms MeSH
EmTree
Free text
Define alternate terms
Design search strategy AND
No OR
NOT
Relevant results?
Yes
Summarize & Appraise the evidence
GOOD
Apply the evidence
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26. General Search Strategy
Define relevant, searchable terms MeSH
EmTree
Free text
Define alternate terms
Design search strategy AND
No OR
NOT
Relevant results?
Yes
Summarize & Appraise the evidence
Poor
GOOD
Apply the evidence
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27. Bibliographic Databases
• PubMed
http://pubmed.gov
• Scopus (SciVerse)
http://www.scopus.com
• ISI Web of Science (Science Citation Index)
http://isiknowledge.com
• LILACS (via “virtual health library”)
http://regional.bvsalud.org
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28. Searching Systematic Reviews
• Cochrane reviews
 http://thecochranelibrary.org
 Search Cochrane reviews via PubMed
• AND cochrane database syst rev [journal]
• AND (systematic [sb] OR meta-analysis [pt])
• Caution when using “Limit” boxes in “Advance search”
• Non-Cochrane reviews (with comments)
 CRD databases (Centre for Reviews and Dissemination @ NHS)
 http://www.crd.york.ac.uk
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29. Searching Ref. of the Ref.
• Scopus
• Science Citation Index
• Google Scholar
http://scholar.google.com
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30. Free Academic Databases
• Google Scholar
http://scholar.google.com
• Scirus
http://www.scirus.com
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31. Open Access Journals
• Directory of open access journals
 www.doaj.org
• Open access publishers
 BioMed Central
• www.biomedcentral.com
 PLoS - Public Library of Science
• www.plos.org
 Dove Medical Press
• www.dovepress.com
 Hindawi Publishing Corporation
• www.hindawi.com
 Medknow Publications
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• www.medknow.com
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32. www.doaj.org
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34. Open Access Publishers 1
• BioMed Central
 www.biomedcentral.com
 Year founded 2000
 Based in U.K.
 An STM (Science, Technology and Medicine)
publisher
 Journals 219
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35. Open Access Publishers 2
• PLoS - Public Library of Science
 www.plos.org
 Year founded 2000
 Based in San Francisco, U.S.A.
 Journals
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36. Open Access Publishers 3
• Dove Medical Press
 www.dovepress.com
 Year founded 2003
 Based in U.K.
 Journals 114
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37. Open Access Publishers 4
• Hindawi Publishing Corporation
 www.hindawi.com
 Year founded 1997
 Based in Cairo, Egypt
 Journals >300
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38. Open Access Publishers 5
• Medknow Publications
 www.medknow.com
 Year founded 1999
 Based in Mumbi, India
 Journals >135
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39. PubMed Central
• PubMed free full-text archives
• Freely access with copyright
protection
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40. Clinical Trials Database
• Cochrane Library
thecochranelibrary.org
 Include hand-search clinical trials
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41. Clinical Trials Registration
• ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT12345678)
 http://www.clinicaltrials.gov
 U.S. NIH, developed by NLM
• Current Controlled Trials (ISRCTN12345678)
 http://www.controlled-trials.com
 NHS, U.K., published by BioMed Central
• International Clinical Trials Registry Platform
(WHO ICTRP) Search Portal
 http://www.who.int/ictrp/en/
• Thai Clinical Trials Registry (TCTR-1234-56789)
 http://www.clinicaltrials.in.th
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42. http://www.clinicaltrials.gov
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43. NCT
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44. http://www.controlled-trials.com
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45. 25
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46. 26
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47. http://www.clinicaltrials.in.th
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48. 28
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49. 29
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50. 30
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51. Clinical Trials Search Portal
• International Clinical Trials Registry Platform
(WHO ICTRP) Search Portal
 A search tool, not a registration site
 Search across multiple clinical trials registration
• ClinicalTrials.gov
• Current controlled trials
• Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry
• Brazilian, Chinese, Indian, Korean, Cuban, German,
Iranian, Japanese, Sri Lanka, Pan African, the Nethelands
 http://www.who.int/ictrp/en/
 http://apps.who.int/trialsearch/
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52. http://www.who.int/ictrp/en/
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53. 33
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54. 34
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55. 35
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56. Thai Journals Databases
• Thai Index Medicus @ Chula
http://library.md.chula.ac.th
• Thai Medical Index @ Siriraj
http://www.medlib.si.mahidol.ac.th
• Thai-Journal Citation Index Centre (TCI)
http://http://www.kmutt.ac.th/jif/public_html/
• Thai Theses Database
http://thesis.stks.or.th
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57. Search Exhaustively
• Electronic databases
• Printed journals, hand-search
• Unpublished articles
• Expert seeking
• Pharmaceutical companies data
• Grey literature (non-peer reviewed items)
• General web search engines
 google, yahoo, etc.
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59. Other Special Databases
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60. Special Databases
• CINAHL (Cumulative Index of Nursing literature and Allied HeaLth)
 http://www.cinahl.com
• PsycINFO
 http://www.apa.org/psycinfo/
 APA, only Psychological abstracts (from 1800s)
• CTSNet (The Cardiothoracic Surgery Network)
 http://www.ctsnet.org/
• PEDro (Physiotherapy Evidence Database)
 http://www.pedro.org.au/
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61. Drugs & Chemical Databases
• TOXNET
 http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/ (can access via PubMed)
 Toxicology, hazardous chemicals, environmental
health, and toxic releases
• Micromedex
 www.micromedex.com
 A drug information system
 One of the most authoritative resource
 From Thomson
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62. Thesis Search
• NDLTD
 www.ndltd.org
 The Networked Digital Library of Theses and
Dissertations
 An international organization dedicated to promoting
the adoption, creation, use, dissemination and
preservation of electronic analogues to the traditional
paper-based theses and dissertations
 Open access with PDF files
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63. Full text Databases
• PubMed Central
www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov
• HighWire Press
highwire.stanford.edu
• Free Medical Journals
www.freemedicaljournals.com
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65. Reference Management Tool
• Zotero: http://www.zotero.org
• Need to run under Firefox (Firefox add-on)
• Produced by
 Center for History and New Media at George Mason
University
• Funded by
 United States Institute of Museum and Library
Services
 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
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66. Knowledge & Wisdom
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67. Knowledge & Wisdom
Knowledge …
is proud that he has learnt so much,
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68. Knowledge & Wisdom
Knowledge …
is proud that he has learnt so much,
Wisdom …
is humble that he knows no more.
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69. Knowledge & Wisdom
Knowledge …
is proud that he has learnt so much,
Wisdom …
is humble that he knows no more.
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70. Knowledge & Wisdom
Knowledge …
is proud that he has learnt so much,
Wisdom …
is humble that he knows no more.
The Task (1785) by
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71. Knowledge & Wisdom
Knowledge …
is proud that he has learnt so much,
Wisdom …
is humble that he knows no more.
The Task (1785) by
William Cowper (1731 - 1800)
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73. THANK YOU
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