After preliminary drafting of the research topic, it is necessary to conduct a scientific and technological novelty search to judge the novelty of the topic, avoid duplication of research, and reduce waste and loss of resources.
At this time, the specific requirements and methods of scientific and technological novelty search that we need to carry out mainly include the following aspects:
1. Determine the scope of the novelty search:
According to the field and direction of the research topic, determine the literature sources and databases for the novelty search.
2. Collect literature:
Use various literature search tools and databases to collect literature related to the research topic. It can be carried out by keyword search, subject word search, author search, etc.
3. Screening literature:
Preliminary screening of the collected literature was performed to exclude literature irrelevant to the research topic.
4. Read the literature:
Carefully read the selected literature to understand the latest progress and research status in the research field, and discover possible research gaps and problems.
5. Analyze the literature:
Comb and analyze the literature, extract and integrate information and data related to the research topic, and provide reference and support for follow-up research.
In short, scientific and technological novelty search is a link that cannot be ignored in the preparation of research topics, and it is of great significance to ensure the scientificity and effectiveness of research.
When operating the above method, there are many points that need attention, so the following editor will introduce some of the more important ones for you.
1. Verification and verification
The key to novelty checking is checking and checking.
(1) Ensure that the verification
Accuracy refers to formulating a reasonable retrieval strategy in the process of document retrieval, including accurate and standardized selection of retrieval terms and confirmation of logical relationships.
Document precision refers to the ratio of the number of relevant documents detected to the total number of documents detected, and is an important indicator for evaluating the accuracy of document detection.
(2) Make sure to check
Search refers to the comprehensive possession of relevant documents.
The literature recall rate refers to the ratio of the number of retrieved relevant literature to the total amount of relevant literature in the system literature database, which is used to measure the capture degree of the literature.
(3) The relationship between precision and recall
In some cases, there is an inverse relationship between precision and recall.
If you want to increase precision, you must decrease recall, and vice versa.
In order to achieve the accuracy and completeness we want, the editor here recommends that you use the scientific and technological novelty search service of the professional novelty search organization Zhangqiao Research. Novelty Search-Science and Technology Novelty Search-Novelty Search Organization-【Zhangqiao Scientific Research】
The scientific and technological novelty search service of Zhangqiao Scientific Research has the following advantages:
(1) Multiple institutions are available: Novelty Search Center of Southwest Information Center of Ministry of Science and Technology, China National Chemical Industry Information Center
(2) Institution Qualification: National first-level scientific and technological novelty retrieval unit, officially authorized for reporting, and officially available for inspection
(3) Scope of novelty search: support domestic and foreign novelty search; cover all disciplines and all fields of novelty search
It can fully meet our requirements for verification and completeness.
2. Selection of search terms
(1) PICO model
Starting from the PICO model, the research question is divided into several elements, and relevant reviews, system analysis articles, and master's and doctoral dissertations are read to obtain special terms, normative words, acronyms, and synonyms that express these elements as search terms.
When choosing search terms, avoid long phrases and phrases.
(2) Subject headings
In literature retrieval, subject words are words used to standardize the expression of the central idea of the literature, the basic issues discussed, and the research objects.
Subject headings are unique and are important metadata in document retrieval.
Taking the medical field as an example, in the medical field, the commonly used medical subject thesaurus includes the following three types:
A. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
The medical subject headings formulated by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) are the most common subject headings in the global medical field.
B. Medical Science Citation Index Subject Headings (CINAHL Headings)
Subject headings used in the database developed by EBSCO, mainly covering nursing, health, medical and related fields.
C. Medical Subject Headings Index (Medical Subject Headings, MESH-CN)
Thesaurus developed by the Institute of Medical Information, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, is an important tool in Chinese medical literature retrieval
(3) Other selection methods
Including search term conversion, related words, English standard words, and English synonyms.
3. Retrieval strategy
The specific strategies are shown in the table below.
4. Reasonable selection of database
Here we take nursing literature as an example. At present, there are three full-text databases including CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP in China, and CBM (abstract database) of China Biomedical Literature Database; abroad, there are full-text nursing journals from EBSCO. Database CINAHL and comprehensive nursing resource database Nursing Reference Center (NRC), Elsevier's comprehensive nursing resource database Clinical Key for Nursing; large databases that include nursing literature abstracts and citations include Medline, Embase, Scopus, BIOSIS Preview, OVID, WoS , Cochrane Online Library and the American clinical trial database Clinical trials, as well as cross-database databases such as OVID and Science Direct.
So, what are the criteria that can be referred to when choosing a database?
The selection criteria of the database include: wide and comprehensive professional coverage, high-quality retrieval system, timely update of content, authority, and cross-database retrieval function. In China, there are four major Chinese databases worth comparing, and the comparison results are shown in the table below.
5. Novelty search period
According to the aging law of medical literature, the novelty retrieval period is determined. Normally, the "half-life" of medical literature is about 5 years, so the backtracking time for novelty searches is stipulated to be 10 years.