All good literature searches start with formulating a searchable question.

The citation manager Zotero will keep track of article references and other resource citations for your project. 

UVA Library's Zotero Guide, their Zotero tutorial, and our HSL Zotero tips are all great places to start.

Covidence is a web-based review management application that will help streamline the screening and PRISMA flow diagram generation for your literature review. Be sure to sign up using this link to gain access to your institutional account with unlimited reviews.

Watch these short videos to get started:

Creating a New Review

Importing References

Title and Abstract Screening

Uploading PDFs

Full-Text Review

Exporting Review Data

Visit the Searching for and Appraising Evidence page for links to databases for your research, search tips, and database tutorials. 

Review these tips for obtaining full-text PDFs of articles and access the library's subscription resources from off-grounds. 

Looking for more information about PRISMA?

Where to search?

First consider what type of information could answer your question. 

If you're looking for background information on a topic, consider some of these sources, including our library catalog, Virgo. 

If you need peer-reviewed journal articles on a specific topic, choose databases with appropriate coverage for your topic. 

Visit our page for resources on the history of nursing. 

Basic Principles of Database Searching

Database-Specific Tutorials

Video tutorials, full-length webinar recordings, and tip sheets/guides on how to search specific databases. 

What is gray literature?

Gray literature is any informational resource that exists outside of commercial publishing. 

Gray literature may include sources such as ongoing clinical trials, governmental research, conference abstracts and proceedings, dissertations, theses, and more. 

Where should I search for gray literature?

The answer depends on your research question and the type of evidence that could help answer it. 

Google Scholar and our pre-filtered Google search limiting results to .gov, .edu, & .org sites are good places to start. 

The NIH (National Institutes of Health) guide to gray literature provides links to many other suggested sources for gray literature.