Introduction > Reviewing Literature > Finding Scientific Papers > The Outcomes of Your Search

The Outcomes of Your Search Your keyword search will return one of the following results: very few or no hits ten to a hundred hits thousands of hits. Once you've identified relevant papers, there are several ways you can track down the full article. If you get very few or no hits, you should broaden your search term. This may mean searching for 'metals and plants' rather than 'aluminium and plants'. The fact that your search terms have yielded very few papers is a good sign - it can mean that there's been little research conducted on your topic. It can, however, also make writing your literature review a bit more difficult because you'll have fewer literature resources. A ten to a hundred hits (give or take a few) are manageable, and you should read the titles and see if they are relevant to your work. Be aware, though, that the title may not give the best indication of the paper's contents and you may have to read the abstract as well. If your search produces hundreds or thousands of hits, it's a good idea to read the titles of the first 50 or so papers (these should have the most recent publication dates, and may be the most relevant). You may then want to think about narrowing down your search terms, either by limiting the years the papers were published in, or by increasing your search terms, eg to 'aluminium toxicity'. There have been research papers written on a wide range of subjects, some of which may seem bizarre to the non-specialist. For instance: Head bobbing and the movement of the centre of gravity in walking pigeons (Columba livia) Defecation frequency in roe deer (Capreulus capreolus) in relation to the accumulation rate of faecal deposits.

<<< Previous Page >>><<< Next Page >>>