What is your motivation for creating a review on your topic?

Do any literature reviews exist on this topic already?

People: 

• Do you have fellow staff or volunteers that could contribute to this project?
• How much time do you (and others) have to dedicate?
• Do any staff or volunteers have relevant experience to contribute?

Information and supports:

• You may have more resources available to you than you realize.
• See "Where to search" in the "Retrieval" section for more ideas.

Keeping track of sources:

• To keep track of the sources you intend to use, you can keep a list in your own document, or you may want to consider using citation management software.
• Citation managers are designed to make it quick and easy to track and cite your sources. You can read more at Citation management software and tools.

Keeping track of the information you're collecting:

• What kind of note-taking works well for you?
• Even if something feels memorable in the moment, it can be difficult to remember where you found a piece of information even the next day.
• Many citation management tools allow you to add notes or attach documents.

Consider any possible search terms that relate to your topic -- it's useful to try different combinations of words to see what results you get back. Your early searches may help you find relevant terms to add to your list.

You can also consider what kinds of articles will be relevant to your needs, then use search filters to narrow your results to fit those criteria. For example, if you are looking for recent articles, some databases give you the option to filter by publication date.

It's a good idea to keep a record of your searches: a list of what keywords or filters you've used, on what website, and what you were able to find with each search. This can help you locate sources again later, and have a record of what has worked well so you don't repeat work.

Open web (search engines like Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo):

• Tools for searching for Open Access articles (CORE plug-in, OA button)
• Advanced Google search tips
• Grey literature search tips - grey literature is information produced outside of traditional publishing and distribution channels - things like newsletters, working papers, speeches, reports, and policy literature. It often comes from NGOs, government, industry, and other organizations.

Potentially useful collections:

• SFU list of Open Access databases
• Directory of Open Access Journals
• Academic library databases -- use Open Access filters in search (SFU guide, UBC guide)
• Open content on JSTOR -- a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources in the humanities and social sciences
• Downtown Eastside Research Access Portal -- contains research and related materials relevant to Vancouver's Downtown Eastside
• Cochrane Library -- a collection of databases with evidence to inform healthcare decision-making, including systematic reviews, controlled trials, etc. (not all Open Access content, but many articles are)
• Candid. Issue Lab -- an online collection of free research, evaluations, case studies, toolkits, etc.
• Frontier Life -- a digital collection of primary source documents relating to colonialism in North America, Australia, Asia, and Africa

Paid databases:

• How to effectively search databases for journal articles

There are a few other resources that may assist you in your search or provide you access to additional materials. For example, public libraries may subscribe to databases that would then be free to patrons to access. Academic libraries also sometimes allow guests to visit in person and use university computers to access their electronic resources like databases. Other options include:

• Paid searching services (InfoAction at the Vancouver Public Library, for example)
• Access you may have as a member of a professional organization (eg. Electronic Health Library of BC member organizations)
  • Professional organizations you are a member of may also have their own independent library collections
• Databases that have free registration that allows limited access
  • JSTOR free account - a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources in the humanities and social sciences
• You may qualify for the Community Scholars Program

• Start your research here -- an overview of the research process
• Library Research Skills -- interactive Canvas tutorial from the SFU Library that covers understanding assignments (or in your case, your research needs), narrowing your topic, and finding background sources, scholarly books, and articles. Geared towards students but may still be useful
• Finding articles: Advanced search techniques -- overview video of advanced search techniques that are especially useful when searching databases
• Search tips for Google, Google Scholar, DuckDuckGo, and other search engines -- advanced search techniques for web search engines
• The Beginner’s Guide to Business Research -- from the UBC Small Business Accelerator 
• How to Conduct Market Research for Nonprofits Like a Pro - Pollfish Resources -- includes suggestions for sources for nonprofit secondary market research

Screen the results you're getting: are they relevant to the topic you've chosen? Do they fit the criteria you've selected for retrieval? You don't need to read the full article at this stage -- you can read the abstract or skim headings. If the article looks relevant, save the full text to read once you reach the synthesis stage.

Evaluating sources:

• Evaluating Sources - from the University of the Fraser Valley on scholarly vs. popular sources, news sources, images, and the "filter bubble"
• Evaluating Information Sources - from the University of British Columbia on evaluation frameworks and checklists
• CASP Checklists - checklists for evaluating methodology and study design

Choosing relevant sources for your topic:

• Choosing Sources - Sheridan College resource with questions to reflect about the type of information you're seeking
• Choosing the Best Sources and Evidence - University of Arizona Global Campus resource on selecting strong and relevant evidence
• How do I choose which sources to use? - Tips from Imperial College London to quickly identify whether information is relevant to your research

You’ll be doing a lot of reading, so keep notes on each source you find. This can be done in the notes section of your citation manager, or your own document.

The other articles your sources are citing can clue you into other important research in the field -- especially if they appear in multiple of your sources.

Recognizing patterns or themes (i.e. in findings, specific aspects of your topic studied, methods of research, conclusions) will be useful when you begin your write-up to help you link articles together or contrast them.

• Spying on a conversation [video] - tips and tricks on identifying relevant information in a literature review search, 4:43 - 8:54 is particularly relevant for the synthesis step
• Read & Take Notes - Researching the Literature Review - guide from Oregon State University on strategies for note-taking during a literature review

The form of your finished product may differ based on your audience, needs, and purpose. Should the write-up be thorough or brief? Casual or formal tone? Purely text, or with visuals?

Generally, a literature review should contain:

• An introduction -- where you explain why you've conducted this research, your context, and give readers a preview what you'll discuss and how that will be structured
• Body paragraphs -- these can be organized by theme, comparing and connecting related articles
  • You don't need to fully summarize each article, and you also don't need to include every article on a topic -- just what's relevant to you!
  • Element of analysis/critique -- consider which sources you find particularly useful, and the positives or flaws they may have
• Conclusion -- how does it all add together? Does anything seem to be missing from the scholarship as a whole? Did you learn anything that's useful to your organization and its practices?

There are many possibilities to shape the format to your needs. Your literature review could contain an executive summary to explain your project and call out key findings. It could end with recommendations for action in your organization and beyond. It could take the form of an interactive web page. It could have bulleted summaries, photographs, and graphs.

See below in the "Examples" section to see some possible structures that incorporate some of these elements.

• Academic writing: What is a literature review? - guide from the SFU Student Learning Commons on what should be included in a literature review and how to organize it
• Literature Reviews - guide from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on writing a literature review. "Strategies for writing the literature review" and "Begin composing" sections may be most helpful in how to create your write-up

Revisit: who was your original target or imagined audience?

Now that you've conducted your research, are there any other groups (whether internal or external to your organization) who would be interested in what you've created? These could be community members, local leaders, professional organizations, or partner organizations you work closely with.

What methods are available to reach your target audience and other potential groups you've identified? Trade publications, blogs, email lists, or conferences might be good places to share your work. Internally, newsletters, meetings, and emails could be effective.

Keeping notes on your process (searches, sources, etc.) throughout your research allows you or others in your organization to pick your work back up later, or to replicate your process on a different topic.

Ensure your notes are kept somewhere secure and reliable, where others in your organization can also access it as needed.