The aim of your literature search is to find relevant publications to enable you to gain an understanding of the area you are working in, and to identify a knowledge gap which your project can address. You should concentrate on finding peer-reviewed journal articles, but these can be supplemented with information from books. Websites should be used with caution. All the literature you use should be cited and referenced following the guidance given on the 'Referencing' page in this guide:
Search the Summon discovery service using the box below to find full-text journal articles available via the Library. Search using topic words or use it to find out if we have access to a specific article by searching for the article title. It is a great place to start to help you understand your topic and start to build a list of relevant keywords to include in your search.
Search databases covering your subject
You should also search relevant databases to widen your search. See the lists below of key and additional databases. They will give you references to journal articles and other publications - they may also give you the full-text of the article. They are not limited to the Library's journal subscriptions, so you may need to use the inter-library loans service to get hold of some articles.
If you are doing a lab-based project you should at least search PubMed and Web of Science. If you are doing a literature-based project you will need to search all which are relevant to your topic.
These are the major resources for finding literature and information in Pharmacy.
Access to the latest edition of The British Pharmacopoeia (BP), the leading collection of standards for UK medicinal products and pharmaceutical substances.
Provides access to the British National Formulary, British National Formulary for Children and Stockley’s Drug Interactions.
Please note, due to licensing restrictions students and staff must access the BNF and BNF for Children on the MedicinesComplete platform. Use of the NICE BNF platform is only permitted for those working for, or on placement with, the NHS.
References to journal articles in the biomedical sciences. Covers 1950 to the present day. Includes 'In press' articles.
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.
When you use our e-resources you are agreeing to our Terms of Use. Please take a moment to look at these by following the link below:
These specialist sources may be useful for some topics.
Full-text articles in the life sciences from a scholarly publishing cooperative which provides open access to quality research journals published in developing countries. Covers health (tropical medicine, infectious diseases, epidemiology, emerging new diseases), biodiversity, the environment, conservation and international development.
Gives references to journal articles, books and chapters in psychology and psychological aspects of related disciplines including education, linguistics, medicine, and physiology. Includes links to full-text articles in PsycARTICLES.
An integrated chemical information system. Use to find physical properties, structures and reactions. Includes inorganic (Gmelin) and organic chemistry (Beilstein). also gives references to articles and patents.
Chemical information, plus references to articles and patents in this subject.
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Visible Body is a comprehensive resource of 3D interactive modules illustrating the basic movement of a variety of muscles throughout the human body as they interact with bone, nerves, and ligaments.
PubMed is a great place to search for articles and gives access to many freely available PDFs, but it doesn't show which ones you have access to via the Library. Install the LibKey Nomad browser extension for quick access to articles we have. It will display a 'Download PDF' button under each article accessible via the University:
This short playlist shows you how to prepare for and perform a literature search. The first video introduces literature searches and their role. The second video covers using the search operators AND and OR to create a search statement, and explains the role of wildcards and truncation in constructing a comprehensive search.
We also have the following generic guide to literature searching and searching databases:
Use the template below to help plan out your own literature search - identifying keywords and synonyms. There's also an example to help guide you and an example of adapting a search for different databases.
We have produced a detailed guide to doing a systematic review:
There's also a playlist of five videos for an introduction to the key steps in doing a systematic review:
If you are unable to view these videos on YouTube they are also available on YuJa (University username and password required):
Our Inter-Library Loans service can get articles, books and other publications not held at Reading from other libraries (usually from the British Library).
For more information see our webpages:
