Conducting a literature review involves finding, reading, and summarizing the existing body of research on your topic or area of interest. This is how scholars figure out what to research: by knowing what other researchers have already published, they can be sure their work is addressing a gap in the research or building on the existing research.
I recommend that you explore a few different types of resources:
1. Books: When you find a book on your topic, the introduction will likely have what you need. If not, scan the table of contents for topics of interest.
The library has nearly half a million ebooks available digitally, not to mention the 170,000+ print books in our building and the 36 million+ items you can borrow through I-Share. You have options!
2. Journal Articles: Consider which discipline(s) care about your topic, then search in a subject-specific database from the library. Check out the descriptions below to find the right database for you:
Over 231,000 articles from 157 publishers focused on the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences.
From an EbscoHost database,
Otherwise, please fill out this Article Request Form.
Questions? Contact Diane Wingert at 618.374.5074 or diane.wingert@principia.edu
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