How To Develop A Search Strategy For A Literature Review

What is a Literature Review Search Strategy?

A literature review is a summary of existing works and a critical examination of scholarly contributions within a specific field. 

Researchers can identify relevant literature, gaps, trends, and controversies by examining previously published studies, reviews, and articles, thereby laying the groundwork for their own investigations. 

But all of these steps require implementing a well-developed search strategy, which is central to the success of any type of literature review.

Why is the Literature Review Search Strategy Important?

Conducting a literature review without a clear plan is like going on a treasure hunt without a map. A strategic approach ensures focus and prevents wasted effort.

A strong search strategy:

• Acts as a roadmap for finding studies and their sources in academic databases.
  
• Saves time and prevents the loss of key information.
  
• Helps make the research trustworthy and easy to check or repeat later.

Types of Literature Review

1. Narrative Review: Summarises existing studies and gives an overview of a topic.
2. Systematic Review: Follows a fixed method to collect and analyse research.
3. Scoping Review: Deals with the range and scope of available research.
4. Meta-analysis: Combines data from several studies for one conclusion.

How to Write a Search Strategy for a Literature Review

Here are the steps for developing an effective search strategy.​
 

Step 1: Understanding Your Research Topic

Every research journey begins with a straightforward, well-defined research question. This question focuses the entire study and shapes all subsequent steps. It has the following characteristics.

• Reflect on the broader area of interest.
• Narrow the research down to a specific aspect you want to explore.
• Make your research concise yet comprehensive, serving as a foundation for your literature search.

Identifying Key Concepts and Keywords

With the research question established, the next step is to break it down into its fundamental components, which are key concepts. These concepts are the building blocks of the research inquiry and form the basis for constructing an effective search strategy.

However, keywords aren’t selected randomly; they require careful consideration and exploration, which enhances the accuracy and relevance of your search results. 
 

Setting Scope and Boundaries

It’s also important to know what your research will and won’t cover. You can establish the scope by creating boundaries as follows:

• Time period (for example, studies from 2015–2025)
  
• Location (for example, studies in Asia or Europe)
  
• Topic area (for example, only high school education)
  

Having clear limits keeps your research focused and eliminates extra information.
 

Step 2: Conducting Preliminary Research

Here is how to conduct research.
 

Familiarising With Existing Literature

Before conducting in-depth research, you should be aware of what has already been written about the topic you are researching, including key findings. So you should familiarise yourself with existing literature, such as scholarly articles, books, and reviews by identifying,

• Foundational theories
• Key contributors
• Seminal studies shaping the field

This provides background knowledge and highlights what has already been discovered, as well as where you need to focus now.
 

Identifying Gaps And Areas For Exploration

While reading, look for:

• Questions that haven’t been answered
  
• Confusing or opposite results
  
• Areas that haven’t been studied much

To identify these gaps, you require a keen analytical eye and the ability to synthesise information from diverse sources. It will help you see where your own research can add something new.
 

Refining Research Questions Based On Initial Findings

Preliminary research will not only inform but also refine the researcher’s original questions. After this early reading, go back and improve your research question based on what you’ve learned. Ensure your question remains clear, focused, and relevant.
 

Step 3: Selecting Appropriate Databases

Academic databases are gateways to high-quality research. Their selection depends on discipline and research objectives.

Examples of Major Databases:
 

Choose databases that fit your topic. Factors to consider include the comprehensiveness of

• Coverage
• indexing practices
• the types of publications included

While one database may excel in providing access to peer-reviewed journals, another may offer access to conference proceedings or grey literature. Check the types of materials each database includes and how it organises the information.
 

Step 4: Using Advanced Search Techniques

Precision is key in a literature review, and Boolean operators are indispensable tools for refining search queries.
 

Boolean Operators:

• AND – Narrows results (e.g., “Climate change AND adaptation”)
• OR – Broadens results (e.g., “Renewable energy OR sustainable practices”)
• NOT – Excludes terms (e.g., “Artificial intelligence NOT ethics”)

Other Techniques:  

Truncation usage allows researchers to capture multiple forms of a word within a single search.

• Truncation (*) – Finds variations (educat → education, educational*)
• Wildcard (? or $) – Captures spelling differences (wom?n → woman/women)
• Nesting ( ) – Organises complex queries (“(global warming OR climate change) AND (impact OR effect)”)

Try different combinations to see which gives the best results.
 

Step 5: Employing Filters And Advanced Search Features

Filters are tools in databases that help you narrow down your search and find only the most valuable studies. They make your results more focused, accurate, and easier to handle.

• Date ranges

Specify a time frame for the search, ensuring that literature from that period is considered. For instance, setting a date range from 2010 to 2023 focuses the search on the contributions of the last decade.

• Publication types 

Databases allow filtering by publication type, including journals, conference papers, and reviews. Researchers can choose the most suitable publication types based on the nature of their inquiry.

• Subject headings 

Identify and use standardised subject headings related to the research topic. Use controlled vocabulary to improve accuracy.

• Relevance and reliability filters

Relevance filters bring the most critical or related studies to the top. Using filters saves time and keeps your research organised.

 By combining filters with relevant keywords, you can effectively exclude unrelated material and build a high-quality, reliable literature review.
 

Step 6: Organising Search Results

Researchers should document each search iteration, including the keywords, Boolean operators, and filters used.
 

Using Citation management Tool

You can use Citation management tools that offer a systematic and efficient way to organise references, streamline the citation process, and maintain bibliographic information. Tools such as EndNote, Mendeley, and Zotero simplify the process of referencing and creating bibliographies.
 

Creating a Systematic Approach

A systematic approach to managing search results prevents information overload, ensuring that the literature review remains focused and manageable. Researchers should have a clear system for categorising and evaluating sources based on relevance, methodology, and key findings. This helps you stay organised and prevents confusion.
 

Step 7: Refining And Iterating The Search Strategy

After reviewing your results, assess their relevance.

In the literature review process, feedback from the initial search results guides the researcher in making necessary adjustments. If you’re getting too many or too few results, change your keywords or filters. Fine-tuning helps improve the quality of your search.

Research is an ongoing process. You learn more by keeping strategy up to date to include new studies, theories and questions. 
 

Step 8: Staying Updated With Recent Literature

Research is constantly evolving, so it’s essential to stay current. Set alerts or notifications in databases to get updates when new studies are published.

Look at the references from one study to find more related work. This “citation trail” can lead to other helpful studies. Include the newest ideas, discoveries, and debates to keep your review relevant and fresh.
 

Step 9: Documenting The Search Strategy

Transparency and reproducibility are foundational principles in academic research. Great researchers always show how they found their information. This helps others check or repeat their work.

So always keep a record of:

• The databases you used
  
• Search terms and filters
  
• Dates and number of results

Write down when you searched, what words you used, and how many results you got each time. This makes your work straightforward to follow. Always give credit to other researchers. Cite sources correctly and never copy someone else’s work.
 

Frequently Asked Questions