PHYT 7014: Systematic Reasoning and Scientific Investigation I: Home

A systematic and thorough search of published literature in order to collect information about a particular topic.

Steps for Acquiring Evidence

• Identify a clinical problem
• Define your research question 
• Select most likely resources
• Design a search strategy (using PICO)
• Search for the answer

• Create research proposals
• Collect evidence on effectiveness of clinical treatments
• To make a clinical decision
• Gather information for presentations

Never pay for an article. Ask me, or request it through lnterlibrary Loan. 

Creating an account

When you find articles of interest in a database or search engine, bibliographic management programs such as Zotero or EndNote make it easy to create a personal collection of references (citations and/or articles) and cite them in your document in the citation style of your choice.

• EndNote offers many of the same features as RefWorks, yet must be purchased. It is available from the University Computer Store, TechZone. 
• Mendeley is a free application and does not require Internet access. It can query PubMed for more accurate citation information and matching PDFs, yet with mixed success.
• Zotero is open-source and free, yet requires an additional plug-in to manage PDFs. Internet access not required.