HLTC48: Special Topics in Health Studies: Indigenous Women's Health

Hand-searching is a way to supplement the search results you retrieved from your chosen databases. It is the process of manually searching the volumes/issues of relevant journals or conference publications to check that no relevant articles were overlooked, either because they were not picked up by the search strategy or because the publications are not included in the databases you selected.

How to Hand-Search

1. Select a relevant journal and access it through the library or through its website.
2. Choose the time period that you will be reviewing for the journal and make a note of the volumes/issues released during this time.
3. Review the table of contents (titles, abstracts if available) for each volume/issue from the time period of interest and record any articles that appear to be relevant to your research topic. 
4. Review the full-texts of those articles to make a final determination about whether to include them in your review.

You may find the following journals good starting points for your hand-search. Remember that the most suitable journals to review will depend on your topic, so check the scope and objectives of the journal before you select it for your paper.

If you're unsure about the best journals for your topic, reach out to your librarian, Kathryn Barrett.

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