We have a detailed guide on doing a literature search, or you could watch our videos on literature searching. Whatever approach you decide to take, you'll be looking for books and journal articles along with sources of information on the web. See the tabs below to find the best places to start doing this.
You can use databases to find articles - it's good to use a variety as they all cover different journals / subject areas.
Here are a few of the relevant databases for Agriculture, Policy & Development - find more in the APD subject guide.
Searches across all of our online articles - use it to find journal articles online and read the full text immediately. Summon has the great option to restrict your search results to peer reviewed journals - these are the articles of the best quality as they've been reviewed and scrutinized by experts in that field.
Search box below...
Search to find articles on your topic - use the 
button next to each article to read it if we subscribe - if we don't have access order it on inter-library loan
Search here to find the full text of articles and read them immediately.
Access to articles in journals published by Elsevier from 1995 to the present, plus access to older articles in some subject areas. Also gives access to Elsevier e-books we have purchased.
Similar to Web of Science but does also cover different material - search to find articles on your topic and use the 
button next to each article to read it if we subscribe - if we don't have access order it on inter-library loan
Gives references to journal articles, books, conference proceedings and patents in all subjects. Also offers extensive tools to analyse results, and measure impact for articles, journals and authors.
Business Source Complete
Full-text articles in business magazines, scholarly journals and trade publications.
And don't forget Google Scholar
Google Scholar is the academic version of Google. It allows you to search for scholarly literature (journal articles, books, patents) from a variety of sources, including academic publishers, professional societies, and online repositories.
When you are searching for books remember that you may need to broaden your topic keywords. The topic of your project will be very 
specific, but books are usually on broader subject areas so try and reflect the broader area in your search.
Search here to find books in the Library. Search box below...
Some books that are relevant to your project may not be held by the Library. To find out what has been published on your topic you may need to look further.
Search here to find books on your topic. They may not be available locally - if not request it on inter-library loan
Market research is information is gathered together to analyse a market. Usually, you can find out target audiences, the size of the market, top competitors and consumer behaviour, depending on the market or product that you are researching.
Provides consumer and market research reports.
When accessing Mintel you may reach a screen that asks for the Client/Campus login. Please select the 'Login here' option next to 'Need federated login?'. You will be directed to the University Single Sign on page, please log in as normal.
Market data and reports for industries, countries and consumers.
Please be aware that the first time you use the service you will need to create an account, which requires information about your full name and course.
Provides consumer and market research reports.
When accessing Mintel you may reach a screen that asks for the Client/Campus login. Please select the 'Login here' option next to 'Need federated login?'. You will be directed to the University Single Sign on page, please log in as normal.
Our Inter-Library Loans service can get hold of articles, chapters and books not held at Reading from other libraries (usually from the British Library).
For more information see our webpages: here Undergraduates can get up to 5 items in this way, free of charge.
Provides quantitative data and statistics on over 80,000 topics from more than 22,500 sources.
Oxford Reference allows you to search across multiple dictionaries and reference titles. We have access to the Premium, Literature and Western Civilization collections.