ABSTRACT
The process of searching for literature should be systematic, rigorous and focused on the review question. The data collection process in any type of research should be systematic, rigorous, unbiased and designed to ensure that the study question is answered. Do not assume that an electronic search facility will consider whether what you have asked it to search for makes sense. It will usually just search for exactly what you requested. Because an electronic search will uncover, letter for letter, exactly what you ask it to, as well as identifying words that might be used interchangeably, you should consider whether there are any spelling variations in your keywords and their synonyms. Boolean logic's 'and', 'or' and 'not' functions enable you to search efficiently using the keywords or phrases that you have developed, and their synonyms. Search engines can also be used to seek information for a literature review, but they are slightly different from databases.
