How do you choose the best databases for your literature review?

1 Define your scope and keywords

Before you start searching for databases, you need to define the scope and keywords of your literature review. What is the main topic or question you want to address? What are the subtopics or aspects that you want to explore? What are the keywords or phrases that describe your topic and subtopics? You can use tools like mind maps, concept maps, or brainstorming to generate and organize your keywords. You can also consult existing literature reviews, textbooks, or encyclopedias to find related terms and synonyms.

3 Compare and select databases

After you have a list of potential databases, you need to compare and select the ones that suit your needs and preferences. You can use criteria such as coverage, currency, quality, accessibility, and functionality. For example, you might want to check how many years of publications are included in the database, how often it is updated, how reputable the sources are, how easy it is to access and use the database, and what features it offers to refine and manage your search results. You can also test different databases with your keywords and see how many and what kind of results they return.

4 Use multiple databases

Finally, you need to use multiple databases for your literature review, not just one. This is because no single database can cover all the relevant and reliable sources for your topic and discipline. Using multiple databases can help you broaden your scope, avoid bias, and increase your credibility. You can also cross-check and compare the results from different databases to identify the most important and influential sources for your literature review. However, you should also be careful not to use too many databases, as this can make your search too complex and time-consuming.