Tools for literature research

Literature research may seem easy at first, but once you start it turns out to be more difficult than expected. With these tools, we offer you a guide in your search for reliable sources that fit your subject. 

Do you still need support after reading these tools? Make an appointment with one of our information specialists at the learning center of your campus.

The learning centers also created an extensive Toledo learning path on literature research that teaches students step-by-step how to conduct thorough and transparent literature research.

Literature research is a learning process, and you start this learning process by realizing that you have a need for information. This is similar to realizing that you are hungry before you eat. Without recognizing this need, you would not know that you need to start learning or searching for knowledge.

Once you realize that you need to start looking for information, you can start looking specifically for information and resources to meet this need. You can do this using this roadmap. With each new resource, you expand your knowledge of your topic. You get to know your topic inside out. With that knowledge, you adjust your research question and your searches over and over again, tweaking them, until you are sure they are as focused as possible. 

There are several programs that will make your literature search a lot easier and faster. Now, that sounds like music to your ears, right?

Have the following tools on your computer:

• A reference manager: a tool that saves all your sources and reads their data. In Word, it creates your citations in one click!
   
• Lean Library: a tool that lets you know immediately when searching for sources whether the full-text of your source is available through a UCLL subscription (or open access). The tool takes you to the full article with one click.

To get the most relevant sources possible that will give you more information about your topic, it is necessary to get your research question on point. It should be focused, clear and measurable.

For this, a chatbot such as Copilot can be very helpful. Ask for research questions around your topic to get inspired or ask your draft research question already and see what response you get. You can also ask to make your research question focused and measurable. If your research question is too broad or too vague, you will get so much information when searching for sources that there is no starting point. The other way around also applies: if your research question is too narrow or too detailed, you will hardly find any sources.

As you get to know your subject better, it is best to keep adapting your research question (possibly with the help of a chatbot). In this way you will finally arrive at an accurate research question, possibly with a few sub-questions.

There are many different types of sources. Which type of source you need depends on your topic and what stage of your research you are in.

Here are some general tips to keep in mind when searching for resources:

UCLL provides reliable and scholarly information to students and faculty through the learning centers on the campuses. Be sure to include these offerings in your search as well. In addition, the information specialists at the learning centers can help you in your resource research. Turn to the front desk for this.

Google is easy, but be sure to keep the following things in mind:

• Anyone can put on the Internet what he/she/wants (e.g., on wikipedia).
• Google is a revenue model. Paid websites often show up at the top. This does not mean that the information on it is always correct, on the contrary, even if it looks very reliable. You can compare it to advertising on TV: meant to convince you of something.
• Your search history determines which results are shown. That's how you get into a filter bubble.
• Scientific information is (often) not free. The UCLL learning centers pay subscriptions for databases that contain scientific information.

Also, generative AI tools like ChatGPT are very tempting. However, we do not recommend their use for source research because the information you get from it may contain errors and be colored. In addition, you don't get the source of the information it gives you.
We do recommend GenAI tool Elicit, Litmaps and Keenious: these tools are specifically made for source research and refer you to science resources.

At the beginning of your research, you need to learn about your topic. Find information about the different subtopics of your research. Try to broaden your knowledge as much as possible: get to know authors, standard works, perspectives,... know. You will find that these insights will help you know better and better in which direction to search.

Useful sources for this are: (text) books, newspapers and magazines, chatbots (AI) and websites.

You can find these on the following platforms:

• Limo: here you can find the library catalog of school libraries in Flanders, e-books, articles, magazines and much more.
• GenAi tools such as CoPilot: this tool can give you quick information about your subject and gives you the sources on which this information is based. You can log into CoPilot for free with your uccl email address. ChatGPT you can also use, but only the paid version also links to sources. Do you still use the free version? Then search yourself for the sources that substantiate the info ChatGPT gives you (tip: you can ask ChatGPT to provide its sources).
• Google: Do pay attention to the remarks we wrote above.
• On Belgapress you will find Flemish newspapers and magazines.

After a while, you have a sufficient understanding of your topic and know what direction your research is going. Then you need more scientific and specific sources to base your research on. These give your research more reliability and help you get to the bottom of your topic. 

Useful sources for this are: scientific articles and journals, legal texts, research papers,...

You can find them on the following platforms:

• Limo: Here you can do an extensive search for articles and journals. Use your filters to make your search more accurate.
• Databases: these are (usually paying) websites with academic journals. From UCLL, you have access to quite a few high quality databases. Check out a list here.
• Google Scholar: a search engine to find scientific information. In the results list you will find links to free or paid articles. Use Lean Library, it will let you know if you can access a (paying) article from UCLL. 
• Elicit and Keenious: in these tools you can enter a piece of text (pdf, url or your own written text). The tool will search for scholarly literature that matches the text you have uploaded. Use this with Lean Library.

A keyword is a word or group of words that represents the most important ideas or concepts in a text or research question. Keywords help identify the most important points in a text and are useful for summarizing content. When formulating a research question, it is important to identify keywords to determine the focus of your research.

The keywords form the basis of your search terms. Search terms can be similar to your keywords, but be sure to include synonyms, translations, abbreviations, and singular and plural forms.

Next, combine your search terms into a search string. We use "Boolean operators" to do this. 
AND: to combine two search terms. Both terms will appear in your search results.
OR: to combine synonyms, translations, ... with each other. Either one or the other will appear in your search result.
NOT: to exclude terms.

To keep terms together, as in mathematics, we use brackets. Each keyword and its derivatives are placed in brackets with OR between them. 

You use this search string to search Limo or databases. 
You can then filter your results to extract those that match your criteria. 

Once you have found sources, it is important to analyze and review them.

First, skim the source to get an idea of its content: read the abstract or summary, the back cover, the table of contents, the conclusion, ask a chatbot for a translation or summary,...
Decide whether the content of the source is useful for your research topic. 
If so, it is important to evaluate your source for reliability. A source may seem very reliable, but it may not be.

Use the CRAP test to ask yourself the following questions:

• Currency: Is the source current?
• Reliability: Is the source properly cited? Is the source cited in other sources?
• Authority: Is the author an active/expert in the field?
• Purpose: Does the source present facts or opinions? Is the information biased? What is the audience for the source?

Try to frame reliability within your research question. If you are writing about social media, blog posts may be interesting but will score poorly on the CRAP test.

Assessing the reliability of an article can be made easier by considering references, reviews, impact factor, and whether the article is peer-reviewed. A chatbot can also help you analyze your source. For example, ask it to identify the facts and opinions, or to assess the bias in the article. 

Research is a cycle.

With the information from your sources, you gain new insights and learn. Sometimes you find that there is very little to be found on your topic, or perhaps there is a great deal. With this new information, you adjust your research question and your search question. Search more broadly or narrowly. In this way, you will find new sources and your understanding will continue to expand. Finally, you arrive at a final, clear research question based on all the information you have absorbed. For all the elements of your research question, you write a theoretical background in your paper. Always refer to the sources you used to write your paper.

When you write a paper about your research, it is very important that you cite your sources correctly. People who read your paper in the future should be able to look up the information you wrote in the original sources. It also shows that your information is reliable.

Use your reference manager (Zotero or Mendeley) to manage your sources and create a correct bibliography quickly and easily. This will save you a lot of time and effort.