It can be overwhelming to try to catch up to decades worth of research as you start your research project. But, keep in mind that everyone felt that way at some point. To try to mitigate this feeling, I’ve provided a short list of how I read through the literature.
There is one non-negotiable thing, and I say this only because it’s a tad scary to start using a reference manager but once you start you’ll regret having not done it before! Other than that feel free to keep what works for you and leave out the rest.
I almost exclusively use Google Scholar for literature reviews. You can also use Web of Science or Proquest. These are all things libraries recommend but they’re kind of a hassle in my opinion.
When searching on Google Scholar (or other search bars) there are a few helpful tricks.
When struggling to access a paper, search directly through the library website.
Caution: If you are not on campus, you will need to install and access papers through the UC Davis Library VPN.
Download the citation so you don’t have to waste time inputting things.
LibGuides @ URI: Google Tips & Tricks: Exporting Citations from Google Scholar
Keep jot notes. Many advisors of mine gave me this advice but, honestly I don’t often do this. Reference managers do let you add notes to the references that simplifies this process.
Once you find a good paper, check their references and read those. That can lead to a very rewarding chain that reduces searching time.
Again once you find a good paper check who has cited them. Google Scholar makes this easy since there is a link that says “Cited by #”.
Be cautious with AIAA papers! Their conference papers are not peer-reviewed but sometimes look identical to their peer-reviewed journal articles. It should say in either the header or footer if it is from a conference or from a journal. It is still okay (but less desirable) to cite a conference paper but always double check to see if the authors have published a journal version of the work somewhere.
Create a new Zotero collection for each project you’re working on. For example I have one named “Ground Effect”. Makes it easier to find the papers again if they’re sorted by what I was looking into.