Research help
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Vancouver, BC | Musqueam Traditional Territory
Canada V6T 1Z3
WORKSHOP: Getting Organized for Research
PRACTICE WORKSHEET
We will be doing a number of activities that will get you started on your literature reviews and that will set you up for managing your projects.
Please use this worksheet to guide the following steps:
- Define the research topic and identify the P, I, O concepts
- Identify places to find relevant information
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Discover search terms - Create a logical strategy
- Refine the results
- Select relevant papers and save citations
- Save search strategy
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Search strategy in Medline Ovid explained StrokeThis handout provides a line by line explanation of a structured search in Medline (Ovid). It demonstrates use of subject headings (MeSH), keywords, truncation, Boolean operators (AND, OR) to combine sets, and the application of Limits
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Guided Medline ExerciseThis tutorial provides step by step instructions for each stage of a structured search. It's intended to be a "guide on the side" - follow along or build your own!
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CINAHL TutorialsThese modules of 2-3 minutes each demonstrate the different search techniques and strategies for effective searching in CINAHL on the Ebsco platform. These techniques are transferable to other databases, both on the Ebsco platform and through other search engines.
Resources
BACKGROUND RESOURCES
Background information answers questions that elicit more information such as What, Why, How. Check out the different links to secondary sources that answer these questions.
GREY LITERATURE
This refers to information and research that is created and published by entities whose main business is not publishing. For example, government departments, health authorities, universities etc.
Validation studies of tests, measures, or surveys can provide valuable background information. Another useful tip is to find which research projects have used a similar tool to the one you will be using. See the following tutorials to learn the search methods in the different databases for finding these.
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Scales, Tests and Measures TutorialsThese short modules are under 5 minutes each and provide tips and techniques for finding tests and scales as well as their evaluation.