Staying Current with Research

This is a major challenge. Don't try to catch everything. Instead, make a workflow that is sustainable for you, and read a new article every week or so, independent of what you need for other projects. If you make a "to read" folder and dump PDFs in it without a plan for reading them, the folder will just swell and stagnate. These steps are how I keep track of new articles:

  1. Google Scholar alerts based on your profile (you should have a profile even if there aren’t papers in it, plus you can list preprints).

  2. X or other social media. LinkedIn hasn’t been too useful for me, but it’s great for connecting to industry and government.

  3. RSS feeds from key journals to an RSS reader like https://theoldreader.com/

  4. Participating in journal clubs

  5. Tracking who cites our articles, via Researchgate.com and Google Scholar citation alerts

Literature Search

Are you familiar with performing a literature search? The purpose is a broad sweep to identify relevant research. At this stage, don't actually read the papers, just take notes about them. Also read about Boolean search logic, truncation, and wildcards. It’s especially importantly to use “” to form phrases: notice how different your results are in Google when you search social memory vs. “social memory”.  

  1. Start by reading about the research question. If the area is self-esteem, read that article on Wikipedia to get oriented to the key concepts and terms.

  2. Go to the library website and choose the best database. PsycInfo is the central database for psychology. We also commonly use Google and Google Scholar. For medical papers, use PubMed. For economics, JSTOR. For education, ERIC.

  3. Search! If you get too few results (usually < 20), broaden your keywords. If you get too many (usually > 200), use quotes, different terms, or more terms. The “right” number of results is a tricky issue to nail down. It depends on the research question. Communicate clearly with me about your search terms and database and what you’re finding and I’ll be able to direct you.

  4. Good progress! Now search again using different keywords. For example, a project about randomness might include these different search terms, searched separately or together in various combinations:
    fate fatalism causation causal cause randomness meaning control
    “personal need for structure” “need for cognition"

  5. Document your process. Include the database, exact search terms, and notes about the search process. Was it easy to answer the question? Of the citations you found, were there many more, or were you scraping the bottom?

  6. When you find a good, relevant article, check which articles have cited that article since it was published. This can be done at Google Scholar (how-to guide) or Web of Science.

  7. Document your findings. Using a Google document or spreadsheet, perhaps one that I’ve shared with you already, include the citation, abstract, and your summary of why you included this article, the central finding of the article, and any questions you have for me and our team about the citation. Please see this example from a real project in our lab.

Systematic Review

  1. Build a research strategy: https://osf.io/ga2du

    1. 5-10 articles I want to include:

  1. Export references from databases: https://osf.io/3nsep

  2. Deduplicate references with Zotero: https://osf.io/yh3xe

  3. Screen title and abstract information with Rayyan: https://osf.io/g92kj

Paper with guidelines: Snyder (2019) Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines

We recommend the PRISMA guidelines and the guides by Janneke Staaks from UvA.

Prisma flow chart http://www.prisma-statement.org/PRISMAStatement/FlowDiagram.aspx

Paper structure and check list: http://www.prisma-statement.org/PRISMAStatement/Checklist.aspx

Janneke’s guide: ​​https://osf.io/49t8x/