Keep a literature-search log you can use when you return
Record actual literature searches, changed settings and next steps without confusing plans, search counts and relevant studies in an original fictional log.
About 4 min read · Allow extra time for the practical checks
Record where you searched, the exact query, the date and what you decided to do next. A useful search log lets you resume an unfinished search without reconstructing it from browser history. Keep the search process separate from your notes about what individual papers mean.
This guide concerns an ordinary assignment or dissertation search. A simple log does not establish that a review is systematic, comprehensive or compliant with a particular reporting standard. Follow the method and reporting requirements of your own project.
Record the search you actually ran
The Royal Roads University Library guide to keeping a search log recommends retaining search dates, databases, queries and useful results, including searches that did not find relevant material. These records can help you avoid unnecessary repetition and return to a search later.
Copy the actual query and record the platform you used. If you applied limits or searched particular fields, preserve those settings too. A note saying “searched education papers” leaves too much uncertain to resume the work reliably.
Do not assume that the same words behave identically in every database. Keep the query as it was entered in each place, including any field choices or syntax you adapted after checking that platform’s instructions. When developing a query, use the search-string guide rather than treating this log as a substitute for search design.
Give each change a reason
A log can be a plain document or spreadsheet; the format matters less than an understandable sequence. Keep the earlier entry when you change a search, and state why you changed it. Otherwise, a later reader cannot distinguish a deliberate refinement from a transcription error.
The following ledger is wholly fictional. The database label, dates, queries and observations are invented teaching material. No live search was performed and no result count or coverage claim is implied. The query notation is illustrative, not promised syntax for a real platform.
| Fictional entry | Query and setting recorded | Observation and next decision |
|---|---|---|
| Search A, 4 March, Practice Database | “shared study rooms”; title only; no date limit | Several inspected titles concern room design rather than booking. Check relevant vocabulary before revising. |
| Search B, 4 March, Practice Database | “shared study rooms” AND booking; title and abstract; no date limit | Inspect whether relevant booking studies use a different term for the setting. Keep this entry separate from A because both query and field changed. |
| Search C, 6 March, Practice Database | Booking term combined with a newly identified setting term; title and abstract; no date limit | Record the actual new term before running the search. This row is a planned action, not a completed search. |
The final row matters: a plan is not evidence that a search has happened. In a real log, mark it as pending and replace the placeholders only after carrying out and recording the actual search.
These invented observations also do not show that Search B is better. Changing the query and the fields together makes the effect of either change unclear. If you need to understand a particular change, compare it deliberately and record what the comparison actually shows.
Separate discovery from reading and selection
A promising title is a lead to inspect, not a paper you can already cite as support. Link the search entry to the records you saved, then use your source notes to record reading, locators, claims and limits. Keep a reason if you decide that a candidate does not fit the question.
If you record a displayed result count, label it as the count shown by that platform for that search at that time. Do not present it as the number of relevant studies, unique papers or papers you actually read. Those are separate quantities and may require separate records.
Leave a clear restart point
End a work session with the next action: inspect a particular set of records, check a term, try an appropriate additional database or discuss a scope problem with a librarian. “Do more research” gives the next session little direction.
When returning, check the last completed entry before repeating a query. Record a new date and any changed settings if you rerun it. A search log makes the process easier to inspect and continue; the quality of the search still depends on the question, resources, terms and decisions behind it.
