Literature Search for Research and Thesis Writing
A thorough review of literature starts with finding the right studies. ResearchTry's literature search lets you query several scholarly sources — including PubMed, CrossRef, Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Europe PMC and CORE — from a single search box, and brings the results together in one list.
From there you can review titles, authors, years and journals, select the studies relevant to your topic, and save them to your project's reference library for citation. This keeps your search, screening and referencing in one place instead of across many browser tabs.
Who it is designed for
- Postgraduate students writing a review of literature chapter
- Researchers preparing the background of a manuscript
- Students building a reference list for a synopsis
Key capabilities and benefits
Multi-database search
Search PubMed, CrossRef, Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Europe PMC and CORE from one workflow.
Unified results
View results from different sources together with key bibliographic details.
Study details
Review information such as title, authors, year, journal and abstract where available.
Reference library
Save selected articles to your project's library for use in citations and bibliographies.
Citation styles
Generate references in styles such as Vancouver and APA from your saved library.
How it works
- Step 1
Enter your topic
Type keywords or your research question.
- Step 2
Review the results
Scan combined results and open the studies that look relevant.
- Step 3
Save and cite
Add selected studies to your reference library for your thesis or manuscript.
Research use cases
- Collecting studies for a chronological review of literature
- Finding previous studies to source sample size input values
- Locating comparison studies for your discussion chapter
- Building a reference list for a synopsis
Search limitations
Coverage depends on what each database indexes and makes available. Some articles may have only partial metadata or no abstract.
Always read the full text of key studies before citing them, and verify bibliographic details against the original source.
For systematic reviews, follow a registered protocol and a reporting guideline such as PRISMA; a combined search is a helpful starting point, not a substitute for a documented search strategy.
Frequently asked questions
Which databases are searched?
PubMed, CrossRef, Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Europe PMC and CORE.
Can I save articles for later?
Yes. Selected articles can be saved to your project's reference library.
Does it provide full-text PDFs?
It shows metadata and links provided by the sources. Full-text access depends on the publisher and the article's open-access status.
Can I generate citations?
Yes. Saved references can be formatted in common citation styles such as Vancouver and APA.
Is this suitable for a systematic review?
It can support your search, but systematic reviews require a documented strategy across specified databases following reporting guidelines.
Related ResearchTry tools
- Synopsis PlannerOrganize objectives, methodology, variables, timelines and analysis plans with a guided research synopsis workflow.
- Thesis FormattingFormat thesis chapters, references, tables, figures and front matter according to academic and institutional guidelines.
- Sample Size CalculatorCalculate sample size for observational, experimental, diagnostic, correlation and clinical research designs with guided inputs.
Ready to begin?
Open the Literature Search tool and start your work.