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ACAP Library Pathfinder: Systematic Searching for a Review

This guide provides a methodology for planning and creating a multi-database search strategy for students who are writing a review.

Managing & Appraising Results: Saving Searches

You may wish to save search strategies and/or lists of results directly within the databases you are using. When using any of the journal databases found in the library's A-Z Databases, you'll first need to create an account for that database, optimally using your college email address.

Click here to view an example using Ebsco databases:

  • Sign in to Ebsco databases using your ACAP student number and password and click the Continue button.
  • Click the Sign In link at the top of the page and create a new account.
  • When you return to this database, make sure you are signed in and simply add items to your folders by clicking the folder icon next to the title of the article you want to save.
  • You can also go to the Search History and save the search to be used at a later date.
  • At this point, you may also want to set up an alert for the search. Setting up an alert for a particular search strategy means the database will notify you when new articles that match your search are made available.

Note. You will need to do the same for each of the library's journal databases.

Manage Citations using Zotero

Reference management software applications can help to organise, store and retrieve citations of books, articles, websites, and reports. Zotero is a free popular research manager supported by ACAP Library. With Zotero, you can:

  • Add citations manually or export from MultiSearch, library databases, Google Scholar, or other websites.
  • Drag and drop PDFs. They can then be read and marked up from within the application. 
  • Group records and add notes and tags.
  • Insert properly formatted in-text citations into a paper and create a bibliography.
  • Share your library of citations with others. Members of your shared group can also mark up PDFs by adding notes and highlighting text. 
  • Easily detect and merge duplicate records. See the Duplicate Detection guide for more information. 

Contact a librarian if you require assistance setting up and using Zotero to help manage resources while writing your review: https://navitas.libcal.com/appointments/