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Conducting a Literature Review for Health Sciences

Tracing Citations--Expanding your search

When you find the "ideal" article...two ways to expand your search are

  • Retrieve the "ideal" article on the Web of Science database or Google Scholar.  Then, examine the record for articles that cite your "ideal" article (that is, click on the "Times Cited" articles on Web of Science).  
    This citing reference searching is a quick and efficient way to find more related and newer articles. 
  • Look at the references (e.g. "Cited References" or bibliography of the article) in your "ideal" article as these articles may be related in some fashion; and will be older than your "ideal" article.