New and updated LibGuides November 2025
Posted: October 30, 2025
We’re excited to announce several new and updated library guides designed to make your academic journey smoother and more successful! Whether you’re working on a systematic review or just starting your first research project, we’ve got you covered.
New Resources and Guides
Covidence
Covidence is a web-based platform that streamlines the systematic or scoping review process. Use it to manage and screen citations, deduplicate search results, collaborate with your team, perform data extraction, and automatically populate the PRISMA flow diagram. It saves time and enhances the rigor of your evidence synthesis. Check out our guide on getting set up in Covidence and how to use it throughout your project.
Whole Person & Leisure Reading Collection in Kirksville
The library in Kirksville includes a great collection of leisure reading materials, which are deemed as our “Whole Person Collection”. Take a look at this guide organized into various categories to learn what is in the collection.
Updated Research Hub Guides
The ATSU Library Research Hub is your central online starting point for all types of research projects, linking you to curated resources, databases, and more. Not only has our Research Hub guide been updated, but so have a number of our review guides:
- Scoping Reviews: A comprehensive step-by-step guide to the methodology for conducting a scoping review, which systematically maps the available evidence on a broad topic. It covers key stages from defining the research question (often using PCC) to charting and reporting the results.
- Systematic Reviews: A step-by-step guide of resources for undertaking a rigorous systematic review, including detailed guidance on developing a protocol, conducting an exhaustive search, screening studies, and appraising study quality. A number of these steps link to the new Covidence guide.
- Literature Reviews: Essential guidance for writing a high-quality traditional literature review, covering everything step-by-step from topic selection and effective searching to synthesis and writing the review narrative.
- Grey Literature: Practical advice and sources for identifying and utilizing grey literature—non-conventional, non-peer-reviewed materials like government reports, conference proceedings, and dissertations—crucial for comprehensive evidence synthesis.
- Library Image Sources: Provides access to image collections within our databases, lists of free image sources by topic, and tools for open free image search, while also offering crucial guidance on copyright and image attribution. Use this guide to quickly locate high-quality, legally compliant images for your research and projects.
- OT Toolkit: A new addition to the Occupational Therapy Toolkit is a page on exam prep including StatPearls, Case Files, and more.
New and Updated Research Tutorials
Did you know that the library has a number of research tutorials for students? Below are some of our most recently created tutorials as well as some that have received updates.
- Research Question Development with PCC & Advanced Search: A tutorial focused on structuring scoping review questions using the PCC framework (Population, Concept, Context) and applying advanced search techniques for broad evidence mapping.
- Creating a Comprehensive Search String: Step-by-step instruction on building a complex and exhaustive search strategy within PubMed, incorporating synonyms, controlled vocabulary (MeSH terms), and truncation for maximum recall in a scoping review.
- Database Translation: Learn the crucial skill of translating a complex search string from one database (e.g., PubMed) to another (e.g., CINAHL or Scopus), accounting for differences in controlled vocabulary and syntax.