1. Initial evaluation

After you have found your first search results, take time to evaluate them. Information searching is an iterative process: you search, evaluate, adjust your strategy, and search again.

Start by asking whether your current search strategy is working. Are the results relevant to your topic? Are they too broad, too narrow, outdated, or not clearly connected to your research question?

If you are finding relevant documents, continue with the same strategy. If not, revise your search terms and try again.