What is a literature search?

A literature search is a detailed and organised search, using a range of resources, to find journal articles, books and websites on a particular topic. A review of the literature is an important first step towards writing an essay or thesis, because it enables you to acquire a clearer understanding of your topic and its major concerns, and makes you aware of research that has already been done in your area of interest.
The ability to conduct a thorough literature search is one of the essential skills you will need to be able to study Philosophy effectively.

How to use these pages

I have constructed sequences of web pages that will step you through the process of finding critical works on a philosophy topic, using the appropriate tools for each category of material that you might wish to locate: journal articles, books and websites.
The format is a series of linked images: just click anywhere on an image, or on the green arrow button, to go to the next page.

First year Philosophy students are expected to complete the Library Tutorial for Humanities and Social Sciences early in their course. The Tutorial will give you a basic grounding in library and bibliographic techniques generally; my Research skills: Literature search techniques pages will build on and expand those techniques to show you how to find material on specific philosophy topics.

Referencing

The Discipline of Philosophy issues an annual Philosophy Handbook which has general information on referencing and arranging a bibliography; look for a section headed Writing an essay.
You'll find lots more information on referencing and compiling a bibliography on the Essay writing page of my Philosophy resources website.

Let's get started !

My Research skills: Literature search techniques help pages are in three separate sections; click on the appropriate Go button below when you are ready to begin.

How to find: Journal articles   |   Books   |  Websites

If you need help with    research skills or literature searching,   click the button

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This page was created and is maintained by Alan Keig