Before moving ahead with your application, you’ll want to put your ideas to the test and refine the specific aims for your research by discussing them with colleagues and mentors whose advice you value, by continuing to weigh them with your own hard thinking, and, of course, by conducting a thorough review of the literature.
Good research should always start with a dynamic research question, one that is of such fundamental significance and interest to the field that it really needs to be addressed. Even if the research design for your project is rock-solid, a research question that is “soft” or ho-hum, or one that offers little more than a variation on previous research, could jeopardize your funding application. The goal is to significantly advance the field of study by addressing a critical but minimally explored question.
At this juncture, it’s often valuable to contact the program officer at the funding agency for advice: Would the agency be interested in funding your line of research? How could your study be modified to strengthen it or to address any concerns the program officer might have? What problems in the review process might be anticipated and how could they be effectively addressed? Having such a conversion now, before too much effort has been spent on the project, can save not only valuable time but also future disappointment if your project has little or no chance of being funded.
If the program officer, your mentors, and colleagues are generally supportive of your project, however, the next important step is a literature review in order to critically assess the full body of current knowledge, research findings, theories, and even controversies about a particular research question or field of interest. A thorough understanding of the extant literature can help you determine whether your research question is truly unique and relevant to the field. It can also allow you to identify potential strengths and weaknesses in your arguments and to develop investigative strategies based on previous successful work.
A literature review is a critical assessment of all the current knowledge, research findings, theories, and even controversies about a particular research question or field of interest. A thorough understanding of the extant literature can help you determine whether your research question is truly unique and relevant to the field. It can also allow you to identify potential strengths and weaknesses in your arguments and to develop investigative strategies based on previous successful work.
Conducting a responsible literature search involves more than just using a library catalog, Google, or PubMed. Because different databases have different coverage areas, search algorithms, index methods, and the return on any one keyword or words can yield vastly different results. Thus, a responsible literature search entails multiple print and Web-based biomedical databases as well as an awareness of the unique features and limitations of each. Many of the most common databases are licensed for direct access for University of Pittsburgh and UPMC faculty, staff, and students through the Health Sciences Library System (HSLS).
In sifting through seemingly endless volumes and venues for published material, it’s helpful to know that biomedical information resources are classified as primary, secondary, or tertiary literature, each with its own advantages to an investigator trying to conduct a research inquiry.
Primary literature entails original research and clinical findings, including journal articles, conference literature, manufacturer-provided drug and medical device information, and theses/dissertations. Journal articles can appear in either peer-reviewed or nonpeer-reviewed (also known as refereed or nonrefereed) journals. Peer-reviewed articles have been evaluated by scientific reviewers, who are generally experts in those particular fields, for validity and reliability. Therefore, peer-reviewed articles are considered more scientifically sound than articles from nonpeer-reviewed journals.
Secondary literature is the real starting point for most literature reviews; its purpose is to index and point investigators to primary and tertiary literature sources. Online bibliographic databases like PubMed and Medline, Internet search engines like Google and Yahoo!, and printed citation indexes like Biological Abstracts and Web of Science are all examples of secondary literature. Searches of secondary literature will typically list primary and tertiary literature sources in citation format with author, title, source, and keyword identifiers. Again, using multiple secondary literature databases will enhance the robustness of your search.
Tertiary literature provides a composite overview of primary literature and is mainly used to acquire general summary information and reference points back to primary literature sources. Tertiary literature includes review articles, full-text information databases, government publications, and Internet sites. Because they are compiled and not original findings, tertiary sources are susceptible to selection bias or misrepresentation of the primary literature.
The HSLS offers classes and personal consultation with a reference librarian on how to select and search online biomedical databases. Also available is an online educational module on responsible literature searching with detailed tips on maximizing a secondary literature search.
