EVIDENT! Toolbox
The best place to look for scientific facts is in scientific publications. Today, many of them are open source. But beware – just because publications have a scientific look and feel, there is no guarantee their authors have done solid scientific work.
To ascertain the facts, your research needs breadth as well as depth.
Your literature search starts with the careful selection of your key search terms. With these, you can search library catalogues, databases (if available) and freely accessible sources for relevant publications.
Scientific search engines are best suited for open source searches. There are many of them, and some are focused on specific subject areas. The University Library of Zurich, for instance, lists information sources and academic search engines per subject area.
As of late, AI tools may also support your literature search. While the results of purely text-generating tools like ChatGPT are generally not reliable, the market for AI-powered research tools for scientific literature is rapidly expanding. However, you should always check the results for completeness, accuracy, and citability.
An overview of AI tools for literature search has been compiled by the library of Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences. There, you can also find important considerations and recommendations for using these tools.
We have selected the suggested sites to the best of our knowledge, but cannot vouch for their content. Please also be aware that third-party providers may use cookies and collect personal data when you visit these websites. We have no influence on the data that is then collected by third-party providers. For more information please consult our legal notice and our data protection policy.