Remember to Back-up
What would happen if your laptop crashed? Would you be able to access your important documents? It's scary to think about but creating back-ups will prevent you from losing your work.
Practice the 3-2-1 rule: 3 copies of important digital documents on 2 different storage media/hardware with 1 copy stored in a different physical location
Do regular back-ups: generally at least once a week
Create digital back-ups of paper documents as well.
Documenting Your Search
WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE & WHY OF DOCUMENTING YOUR SEARCH
WHO?
- You plus any collaborators
WHAT?
- All of the information that someone would need to reproduce your literature search
- Be as specific as possible
- Information to record: database names, filters applied, keywords, search strategy, eligibility criteria, alerts set up, etc.
WHEN?
- Ideally, every time you work on your search
- Think of it as a rolling notes document to remind yourself what you did last time you searched and what you want to do the next time you search
WHERE?
- Create single document in Word, Google Docs or another word processing software
- Give it a descriptive file name (for example: LitSearch_LakeMercuryLevels_2023-04-13.docx). More info on using a file naming convention to create descriptive file names is on the Organizing the Literature tab.
- This document should be a running synopsis of what you've done and what you plan to do. It's a living document — which means you don't want to delete anything from it. Rather, use a
strikethroughor another notation to indicate out of date information. - More advanced researchers may want to create a more structured document, like the Literature Matrix explained in the box below
WHY?
- For you. So you can keep track of what you did and what you plan to do. You'll thank yourself later.
- For continuity of the project. Especially if you have collaborators. Searching for literature isn't a linear process. You'll have to start, stop and restart. Having your search documented will help you to do this more easily.
- For your readers. To know the who/what/when/where you searched so they know that you did a comprehensive and relevant literature search
Using a Literature Matrix
A literature matrix is a spreadsheet that tracks various characteristics from your sources so you can start to see themes emerge.
List of possible source characteristics to track:
| Year of Publication | Abstract | Methodology |
| Author Names | Geographic location | Sample/Population characteristics |
| Source Title | Keywords | Main findings |
| Publication Name | Purpose/Objectives | Limitations |
| Citation | Research questions/Hypothesis | Future research directions |
| Source type (book, journal article) | Theoretical framework | Notes |
Below is an example of a literature matrix from the field of education
A few YouTube videos on how to create a literature matrix:
- Literature Matrix "How To Guide" - uses GoogleDrive
- Literature Matrix (for social sciences) - uses Excel
-
Creating a Literature Matrix in Excel (with Filtering) - uses Excel
Examples of literature matrices that you can tailor for your own research: