Medical literature search: from a question to a source

1. Define what you want to learn

A search for “diabetes” is usually too broad. Specify the population, topic and context: adults or children, care delivery or basic science, an overview or a particular intervention? Also decide what the literature is for: teaching, professional orientation or a research project.

Example question: What experiences do adults with type 2 diabetes report when using digital self-management support? This is a search-planning example, not a claim about treatment effectiveness.

2. Develop English and German search terms

Break the question into a few concepts and collect synonyms. English terms matter for international research; German terms can add relevant publications from German-speaking care settings. Start with the core concepts and add detail when the results are too broad.

Test different spellings and combinations separately. Before transferring a complex search string, check which operators, fields and filters your chosen interface supports. Search syntax is not automatically interchangeable between databases.

3. Match sources to your question

EUVIMED lets you bring MEDLINE, Crossref, CareLit and other sources into your search. Biomedical research, nursing practice and interprofessional care may call for different combinations. Consult the source overview before choosing.

Crossref metadata helps identify publications through DOIs, titles and bibliographic details. It is not equivalent to a full article. CareLit adds German-language specialist literature. For a systematic review, justify your source selection and consider involving a specialist librarian.

Comparing platforms? See EUVIMED as a PubMed alternative. Our PubMed, MEDLINE and PMC guide explains their different roles.

4. Assess results and original sources

Start with titles, publication dates and abstracts. Does the study population match your question? Is this a primary study, review, editorial or practice report? Read the original methods and limitations before relying on an article's conclusions.

A searchable citation does not necessarily provide free full text. Check open-access versions, publisher links and existing library licences. Access to search and access to the complete article are separate matters.

5. Keep a search log and organise your literature

Record your decisions while you search. A simple log makes it easier to reconstruct a useful result list later.

• When and where: search date, platform and selected sources.
• How: exact terms, search fields, filters and date range.
• What: displayed results, selected publications and reasons for selection.
• Next: unresolved terms, missing full texts and a date for updating the search.

LIVIA supports literature organisation and further analysis. CLARA helps explore questions using sources. Always check AI output against original publications; a generated summary is not a substitute for your assessment.

Start with one specific question

Try two or three core terms first. Read several relevant results and use terminology from those papers in the next search. Then compare what additional sources contribute. For care-focused questions, see the worked example in our nursing literature search guide.