Literature searching and management: how to stay up-to-date and initiate research?

Abstract

Literature search can serve several goals: answering a clinical question, preparing a research protocol, a course, an oral presentation or even updating knowledge. Being up-to-date with the latest scientific publications requires a method to identify relevant articles.  We propose, through a didactic article, the basics to efficiently organize bibliographical research. Then, in order to be updated on new publications, the means to conduct a scientific watch are discussed. Finally, it is important to organize the bibliography and the publications to be stored. Various methods and tools are available for this purpose. We suggest a few of them, although the list is not exhaustive.