6.3: Revisit the Literature

You'll use several of the same techniques for finding sources that we covered in Unit 4. However, now that you already have a few sources, have considered their patterns, and possibly adjusted your topic, you're ready for additional techniques.

Citation Chasing

One of the easiest ways to find more sources is to use the ones you already found.

Find older sources

• Check the bibliographies or references of the sources you read.
• If any of their references look useful, use your library to find the full text.

Find newer sources

Not all articles have been cited, but this technique is particularly useful for older articles as well as landmark sources.

Consider:

• Did any sources you read cover multiple areas of your topic?
• Did any cover an area or population of interest, but not well covered by other sources?
• Did any use particularly useful/interesting terminology about your topic?
• Were any a bit dated, but still useful?

If yes, you can look for sources that cited those works. Here's how to do this in Google Scholar (your library might have a way to do this within databases).

1. Go to Google Scholar.
2. Paste the title of the source you have into Google Scholar.
3. Under the citation, look for: Cited by [number]
   1. If anyone has cited it, Google Scholar lists the number of citations here.
   2. Click the "Cited by" hyperlink to see all the sources that referenced your source.
   3. If there are many, check a box under the search box for "Search within citing articles" and add keywords to narrow.

In Practice

Activity: Citation chasing \(\PageIndex{1}\)

Look at the sources you already found and assess whether they might be useful enough to help you find more sources.

1. If you have very recent sources, look at who they cited.
2. If you have older sources, look at who cited them.

Return to the Databases

In addition to citation chasing, you'll want to do further database searches.

Find more terms

• You might already have terms from Unit 4 when you were evaluating citations.
• You might have discovered new terminology from the sources you read.
• If you refined your topic, you might also have new areas you want to pursue.

Try another database

I started my searches in APA PsycInfo because I wanted to see the psychological literature about affect. However, I quickly realized this was not useful and had also tried ERIC, an educational database, which was more successful. However, my best bet was actually searching in a library-specific database.

If you're not sure of other databases available to you, email your library or make an appointment.

In Practice

Depending on how many more sources you need, this will involve iterative steps and can become unwieldy and overwhelming. Therefore, continue searching systematically.

Activity: Database searching \(\PageIndex{1}\)

Start with one pattern you noticed needs more sources. Or, you can start with a facet of your Venn diagram that's lacking enough sources.

1. Select a relevant database.
2. Conduct a search
   1. Combine all the terms you've found for 1 facet in a large set, combined with OR. This can include both subject headings and keywords.
   2. Or, if you'd like to see what kinds of citations you retrieve with different terms, you could conduct two (or more) similar searches.
3. Evaluate citations. Save any relevant citations.
4. Save your search(es).

You can choose whether you'd prefer to go through this set of sources, reiterating the steps from Unit 5 on scanning, reading, taking notes, and considering patterns. This round will usually be faster because you already have some context and a sense of some of the patterns.

Or, you might continue to find additional sources on a second pattern or by combining different facets of your Venn diagram.

Process & Note-Taking

Taking notes is particularly necessary at this stage. You'll likely try multiple terms, combinations, and databases. You probably won't finish in one sitting, especially as you'll iteratively read a few more sources, refine your topic, and then do additional searches.

Maintaining a methodical process by trying one search at a time, saving your citations & searches, and keeping systematic notes will ensure you

• Feel less overwhelmed
• Track what you've done
• Identify clear next steps for other searches to try
• Save time by not re-doing searches you forgot you tried

These notes are just for you so take them however is helpful to you. I recommend that you consider recording:

• What & where you've searched
• What you've learned & how you've felt
• Your next concrete, baby step

An example of notes might be:

• What/where searched
  • Example: APA PsycInfo, ERIC, ASC (Academic Search Complete), Google Scholar ("student affect" "graduate students")
    • Here, I list a couple databases as acronyms. I don't list what I searched there since I can save my search history.
    • For Google Scholar, list your searches since they can't be saved
• What learned
  • Example: Found a bit on student affect. More on anxiety, but less on the process overall. Worried sources still aren't relevant.
    • Here I'm just listing quickly a bit about my findings, just for myself
• Next steps:
  • Example: Search for "research process" and emotions in APA PsycInfo
    • I just add 1 very specific next step. I could instead have written "Read 3 sources", depending on what I want to do next.

Build Supports

Even if you already met with a librarian in Unit 4, this can be a good time for another visit, as a fellow detective on your hunt for clues.

Librarians can suggest additional databases or search terms you might not have considered and help you troubleshoot if you're feeling stuck. Over the years, I've met with many students who wanted to confirm whether they had truly found a gap in the literature or were simply missing sources. Sometimes I could confirm that the area seemed under-researched; other times, I'd suggest a new database or search term, opening a plethora of relevant results.

Next Steps

Once you've found more sources, return to the iterative process from Unit 5:

• Scanning
• Reading
• Taking notes
• Considering patterns

The cycle often gets faster & easier as you gain context & familiarity with your topic and the literature. Depending on your topic and the need you have to write this literature review, you might need to dive into other types of sources, beyond the recently published peer-reviewed studies you've been finding.