WUR Library

Searching and organising literature for PhD candidates

This course equips you with the skills to find literature for your PhD thesis and future research projects throughout your academic career. You will learn to develop comprehensive and systematic search strategies in various bibliographic databases. You will also learn how to evaluate the found information, how to cite sources correctly and avoid plagiarism, and how to manage references with EndNote.

The course is divided into three parts and includes both lectures and practical assignments. You will also receive personalised instruction tailored to your PhD topic. It is open to all PhD candidates and postdocs, with a primary focus on early-stage PhD candidates who have not previously taken an information literacy course.

Learning outcomes

After this course you will be able to:

  • identify your information needs and information sources for your PhD research or another scientific project;
  • formulate a focused research question for a literature search and a strategy to prepare a systematic search;
  • construct a systematic search in various databases and platforms and use relevant articles to find additional information;
  • evaluate the search results, revise the search if necessary, and determine when to stop searching;
  • store and organise information systematically and transparently, keep track of the search process and stay up to date with new information on your topic;
  • cite and reference literature correctly to avoid plagiarism.

Note: you have to participate in all three parts of the course and the follow-up in order to receive the certificate.

General information

Target Group: WUR PhDs and postdocs with little to no prior knowledge of information literacy.

Group size: 10-24 participants

Course duration: Three half days

Language: English

Credit points: 0.6 ECTS

Self-study hours: 0

Organisation: This course is offered by Wageningen Graduate Schools and organised by WUR Library.

Name lecturer: Nicolien Schmaal (course leader) and information specialists of WUR Library

Testimonial

“You know when you struggle to open a jar all your life and someone shows you a trick and you suddenly open it easily and quickly? This course did the trick for me with hands-on experience to access the literature I have been looking for efficiently”
Nada El Shanawany (participant)

Programme

Part 1 Orientate and Prepare (09:00-13:00)

  • Formulate a research question for a systematic literature search;
  • Select appropriate information sources, with the aim to orientate on a topic and prepare for a systematic literature search;
  • Identify key concepts of the review question and define relevant search terms for each concept;
  • Build a search query and run this query in a bibliographic database combining all search terms with Boolean operators.

Part 2 Search and Evaluate search results (09:00-13:00)

  • Adapt search queries to different databases, making use of functionalities that different databases and platforms offer;
  • Evaluate search results, improve search and determine when to stop searching;
  • Save searches and set up alerts in bibliographic databases.

Please note: Part 1 and 2 of the course strongly overlap with the information literacy courses in the BSc and MSc programmes at Wageningen University.

Part 3 Using EndNote for citing and referencing literature (09:00-13:00)

  • Citing and referencing literature
  • Why use a reference management tool
  • EndNote - Creating and filling libraries
  • Endnote - Organising and managing libraries
  • Endnote - Integration with MS Word
  • WUR Library support

Follow-up

During the course, you have time to work on setting up systematic searches for your own topic. After the course you will meet with an information specialist to further develop your search strategy. The information specialist will make an appointment with you for a follow-up meeting.