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This link opens in a new windowThere are different ways to search in PubMed, each with their own benefits.
Example Using Advanced Keyword Search
Example Using MeSH
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Another great advantage to using Web of Science is the ability to do citation mapping. Click on "Times Cited" (see below) to see article citations that cite the article at hand. The articles will necessarily be more recent and may give you more material on your topic.
While subscription databases should be your first choice, one advantage to using Google Scholar is the ability to do citation mapping. Click on "Cited by" (see below) to see article citations that cite the article at hand. The articles will necessarily be more recent and may give you more material on your topic.
Review articles in the sciences summarize previously reported findings rather than resent new findings, often pulling together the findings of multiple primary research articles. In doing so, review literature often gives a broader view of the current state of understanding in a given topic area.
For this class, you are generally looking for review articles.
Finding review articles is easiest in PubMed. From the Results screen, simply choose "Review" under "Article types" on the top left.
Unless the database has an easy "Review" limit like PubMed, there is no perfect way to find review articles. Another thing to try is to simply add the word "review" to your search. Look back at the "Types of Literature" tab on this guide, and avoid article that fall into the "Primary Literature" category. Once you eliminate those, you will most likely be left with review articles. (Incidentally, if you happen upon a good primary literature article, the list of references at the end might lead you to review articles; so that's another option).
