Once you have a clearly defined research question, make sure you are getting precisely the right search results from searching the databases by making decisions about these items:
- Select a time frame for relevant search results.
- Would the most recent five years be appropriate?
- Is your research from a more historical perspective?
- Select a geography (and language)
- Where has this type of research taken place?
- Will you confine your results to the United States?
- To English speaking countries?
- Will you translate works if needed?
- Choose research constraints
- Is there a particular methodology, or population that you are focused on?
- Consider inter-disciplinary fields
- Are there adjacent fields in which this type of research has been conducted that you would like to include?
- Consider the organizing structure for your review
- Is there a controversy or debate in your research field that you want to highlight
- Are you creating a historical overview? Is this background reading for your research?
- Is there new technology that can shed light on an old problem or an old technology that can be used in a new way?
