Look at the 'check your progress' box at the bottom of this page to make sure you have completed all the steps for this stage of your search
You have to search for literature in a database search to demonstrate that you know how to search comprehensively for literature. You can search for additional articles using other means - this shown in the top right hand box of your PRISMA flow chat.
It's fine to use articles you come accross in other ways as long as the results are additional to the ones you have found through a thorough literature search in a database.
Other ways of searching can include articles mentioned on social media or in an blog, reference lists, browsing in journals and articles mentioned in books - as long what you are using
See the checklist at the bottom of this page to ensure you have gone through all the necessary steps to move on to the next stage.
Use the reference lists in the most relevant articles to find older pieces of research. Add the number of articles you open and consider to your top right box in your PRISMA, even if you don't ultimately use them in your literature review.
Citation searching allows you to find who has cited a paper since it was published, and can be a good way to find up to date primary research.
You can do this in databases such as SCOPUS and Web of Science (access them through the A-Z of resources under mySearch in Brightspace). You can also do this in Google Scholar, but this gives you less information and functionality.
| Stage of your search | Things to remember |
|---|---|
| Have you checked references in your articles? |
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| Have you used other means of searching? |
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