Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health Guide
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Scholarly Literature Basics
The general guideline is to search at least three databases, you will likely search more and look to grey literature sources to ensure you fully understand the context of your topic and incorporate many perspectives.
What is it?
Scholarly lit typically refers to journal articles published to enhance the field of study. It is also called "academic literature", "research", or "peer reviewed".
When do I use it?
When trying to understand a current or evolving issue. As background or historical information, although textbooks are often a better choice for established facts.
How do I find it?
In scholarly databases:
- Food Systems, Nutrition, & Health ToolkitLook for Scholarly Literature: Databases to view a list of databases containing scholarly literature on food systems, nutrition, and/or health.
- A-Z Health Sciences DatabasesList of databases particularly helpful for health sciences research.
- A-Z DatabasesList of databases provided by the UW Libraries.
How do I evaluate it?
- Evaluating Scholarly SourcesThe TRAAP Test helps you evaluate the information that you find. Different criteria will be more or less useful depending on your need.
Getting to Full Text
- How to access full text articles and booksKeep running into paywalls when trying to read beyond the abstract of an article or book? Follow the steps on this guide to get the full text for free!
Ebooks & Nutrition Analysis Tools
- Bloomsbury Food Library This link opens in a new windowCollection of reference works & ebooks on food studies.
- Knovel eBooksincludes over 400 food science titles.
- Nutrition Care Manual (ADA/AND)Information, tools and calculators for diseases and conditions.
Background Information
Background information is typically found in books.
- Public Health EbooksList of ebooks about public health.
- Nutrition EbooksList of ebooks about nutrition.
- Course ReservesFind resources placed on reserve by your instructor.
- The Food TimelineA catalog of culinary history from reference librarian Lynne Olver, now maintained by the Virginia Tech University Libraries.
- Alternative AccessHow to get access to books for free.
Nutrition Analysis Tools
- USDA Food Composition DatabasesUSDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, and USDA Branded Food Products Database
- Dietary Supplement Label DatabaseNIH database of product label information derived from dietary supplement products marketed in the U.S.
- Bowes & Church's Food Values of Portions Commonly UsedPrint only. In Health Sciences Library
Searching Basics
Boolean operators: AND, OR, NOT
- PB&J example.
- ADHD example.
- Basics of Searching video (example in PubMed) by Julie Nanavati.
Search Strategy Development
Combining Concepts
Visual map of concepts using a Venn diagram
Conceptualizing a search strategy to research: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) studying social skill development in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Learn more about developing a research question.
By using Boolean operators, the database returns results for articles that meet all four components of the search (i.e., the center of the Venn diagram where all four concepts overlap).
Adding synonyms for your concepts
Copy-and-paste version of above image
(social skills OR interpersonal skills OR role play* OR social competence OR social behavior OR social behaviour)
AND
(Attention deficit disorder OR attention hyperactivity disorder OR adhd OR ad hd OR hyperactiv* OR hyperkine*)
AND
(child OR children OR pediatric OR boy OR boys OR girl OR girls OR preschool* OR adolescen*)
AND
(randomized controlled trial OR randomized clinical trial OR randomized trial OR randomised trial)
In many databases, the asterisk is a wildcard; it can be considered a 'fill in the blank' option for the database. Wildcards can cause issues, especially if used incorrectly because not all databases understand the asterisk the same. Learn more about using wildcards in different databases.
Revising your search
Searching is iterative and you should not expect to get it right on the first try!
Tracking your search
After trying your search, in a document or spreadsheet, record the following information so you can reproduce the search later or improve it another day:
- Search string (the keywords including the parenthesis and Boolean operators)
- Which interface you used to search which database you searched (e.g. PubMed: MEDLINE, indicating PubMed is the interface and MEDLINE is the database)
- Date you ran the search
- Number of results
Evaluate your results
- Do you need to add keywords?
- E.g., plural versions of your terms or alternate endings like large capacity magazines or nursing for terms like nurse and nurses
- Would truncation and a wildcard help -- note when a word ends early and an asterisk is inserted, that is instructing PubMed to end complete the word with other options; e.g., adolescen* in the search above will search for adolescence and adolescent and adolescents.
- Do you need to remove keywords?
- E.g. some of our terms have a second meaning that we are not interested in so we may need to use quoted phrases to find "large capacity magazine" in the title, abstract, or keywords of the articles in PubMed
- Are there any typos in your search terms?
- Are your ORs and ANDs and parentheses in the right place?
- Check your parentheses with Balance Braces
- Try changing the font and/or font size of your search to better proofread your Boolean operators
- Are there too many results to reasonably go through?
- Modify keywords
- Add another concept like: AND (harm reduction OR injury OR injuries)
- Try a filter (found on the left side of the PubMed results page)
- Too few results? Zero results?!
- Are all of your concepts actually required? If not, try adding them with an OR rather than an AND Boolean operator
- Check Boolean Operators; are you using an AND when an OR is needed? E.g., child AND children OR kid – these are all conceptually similar so we should use ORs between each term
- Could research from another area apply to your population? E.g. you may not find anything for King County but you likely will for Washington State or the U.S.
Select News Sources
Current events in research, government, and civil society are often reported through journalism. Here are some of the many news and reporting outlets that frequently cover food systems.
- Guide to News SourcesIncludes a guide to Ethnic Press, a helpful way to incorporate more perspectives and help conduct anti-racist research.