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Literature Reviews

A guide to researching and writing a literature review paper

Setting Search Criteria

As the literature related to almost any topic is vast, the authors of literature reviews must set limitations as to what literature they will or will not be covering. Some common criteria for inclusion and exclusion include:

  • Language of publication (e.g., English only)
  • Type of publication (e.g., scholarly journals, books, dissertations)
  • Date of publication
  • Research design (e.g., quantitative, qualitative, randomized controlled trials)
  • Location of the research (e.g., United States)
  • Setting of the research (e.g., workplaces, schools, hospitals)
  • Participants (e.g., women over age 65, elementary school students with a learning disability)
  • Type of program or intervention

These are just some examples of the types of criteria that you will want to consider. You should have good reasons for making decisions about what to include in your review. Once you have established your criteria, you will be better prepared to search for literature.

Searching for Sources through the UNR Library

As you begin work on your paper, you'll want to search for works related to your topic within the parameters you have specified. You can search using some of the tools available through the UNR library to find sources.

Library Search, the main search box on the UNR library website, searches across most of the books, journals, databases, and digital collections that the library owns or subscribes to.

The library also subscribes to numerous online databases which allow for efficient searching of multiple types of scholarly sources. While some databases are general and cover a wide range of topics, many are targeted to specific subject areas. You can identify research databases in your field of study by using a research guide or by going to the library's list of databases and choosing your subject from the appropriate drop-down menu.

Requesting Materials from Other Libraries

You can use Library Search to request materials from other libraries, including scholarly journal articles, books, and book chapters.

You can search for sources from other libraries by clicking the link to "add results beyond the University Libraries" at the top of your search results.

Link in the search results page that says, Didn't find what you were looking for? Click here to add results beyond the University Libraries

For items from other libraries, look for a link that says, "Get it for me from other libraries" and follow the instructions to order it. If you have requested a scholarly journal article from another library, you will receive an email message, usually within a day or two, when the PDF is ready to download.

For materials not found easily within the expanded Library Search, you can make requests directly in ILLiad, the Interlibrary Loan interface.

Following the Citation Trail

In addition to searching for literature in research databases, you can also find excellent sources by following the citation trail. Look at works you’ve already found and check to see what sources those authors have cited in their lists of references. Then use the library website or another source to look up sources of interest.

As you check to see what sources have been cited, do you keep seeing some of the same sources appear again and again? If so, you should look at those sources and consider incorporating them into your literature review. 

Using Alternative Options for Search and Access

In addition to using library resources to locate scholarly research related to your topic, you may also use free online resources. Some databases and tools can be searched for free and contain records for links to both open access (freely available) and paywalled (available through payment or subscription) sources.

Google Scholar

Google Scholar allows you to search for a variety of scholarly sources. If you are searching Google Scholar from your personal computer, you can activate the View It@UNR button to access paywalled content that is available through library subscription. To do so, follow these steps:

  1. Click on Settings from the upper left menu (three lines).
  2. Click on Library Links on the left.
  3. Search for University of Nevada, Reno, and then check the box next to it and save.

LibKey Nomad

When trying to access paywalled articles on the open web, you can use LibKey Nomad to instantly access articles that the UNR library subscribes to. LibKey Nomad is a browser extension that provides one-click access to content from library resources when searching Google or other sites.

To install LibKey Nomad, choose your browser and install the extension. Select the University of Nevada, Reno as the organization.

Whenever you try to access a paywalled article, look for the LibKey Nomad button (a green flame) that will pass you through to the resources paid for by the UNR library.

AI Tools

You can supplement your search for literature with AI research tools, such as Consensus and Elicit, or visual AI search tools like Connected Papers and ResearchRabbit, which allow you to see connections among scholarly works. Keep in mind that these tools usually require an account to use, provide limited access for free, and draw from a limited collection of research works, so they should not be considered comprehensive.