The second phase of evidence-base practice is the literature search. This is the phase in which you find the evidence to either support a change in practice or to be lead into further research. Equipped with your PICO question you will begin searching for existing studies that have been conducted on your topic. There is a vast amount of information out there. Please refer to chapter 3 in your textbook, Gathering and Appraising the Literature for skills and tools to help you in your search. Table 3.2 (p. 51), Table 3.3 (p.53), and Table 3.4(p.56) provide guidelines and databases for your search. Please remember many of these databases are included in your library resources made available to you through PHSSN and your parent university. As you do your literature search, please keep in mind the hierarchy of evidence. The systematic reviews and meta-analysis will provide the strongest evidence so you will want to focus on finding those types of studies. The next strongest level of evidence will be your randomized controlled studies and so forth. Gather 4-7 research articles on your topic. It is often helpful to simply review the abstracts of articles at first in selecting the articles and later you can go through the article more comprehensively. Appraise your articles for relevancy, validity, and reliability. Please use current articles, articles published within the last 5-7 years.