Introduction > Reviewing Literature > Starting Your Literature Review > What, Where and Why You've Read It

What, Where and Why You've Read It

When you've decided that a document is relevant to your research, it's important to keep a record of it and why it was important. Again, this need not be hard work but should include the reference of the source (author, title, publisher, page number, etc) followed by a short explanation of its relevance for your reference at a later stage.

You may find that you have a 'tried and tested' method of recording and organising what you have accessed and when you read it. Software programmes such as Endnote can also be used to to note literature searches and keywords. The method of recording this information isn't as important as its function. As long as you are confident that you have all the information you need, use whatever means you find suitable.

One important word of caution: if you use abbreviations, make sure you note down what they mean! Although your abbreviation may make perfect sense now, several weeks or months down the line it'll be meaningless!

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