Skip to Main Content
Circulation Desk
Email a Librarian
(734) 432-5703
ref@madonna.edu

Literature Review: Search the Literature

This guide will help you learn what a literature review is and how to write one for your class.

How do I begin Searching for Literature?

Before you being writing your literature review you must find articles related to your research question. Here are some effective tips for creating a search strategy to find articles in our Library Databases:

  • Create a list of keywords, key concepts, variables, synonyms, and terms related to your research question.
  • Use Boolean operators like AND, OR, and NOT to make your search more precise
    • AND = search for all of the words together.
    • OR = search for any of the words in the search box. 
      • This is useful for synonym searching (e.g. "social isolation" OR "social exclusion" OR loneliness).
    • NOT = not to search for the terms that follow it.
  • Watch this YouTube Video to help you learn how to turn your question into a search strategy!
  • Watch the general database searching tutorials on our Databases page!
  • Use the Databases page on our website to find relevant databases to your subject.
    • You need the Remote Access Password to access databases off campus. You can find this on the Students tab of your MyPortal.
  • Use your search strategy, keywords, and any "peer-reviewed" selection boxes to find relevant, scholarly articles for your topic.
  • Find other keywords by looking at the Subject are on the results page and searching for those Subject headings.
  • Write down what you have searched so that you can replicate your searches if needed.
  • You can also use the references in your articles to find other articles or use the "Cited by" function on  Google Scholar to look for articles that have cited your article.Google Scholar Cited By