Ask a librarian and literature search services
The King’s Fund Library team can help you answer questions about health and care, as well as carry out in-depth research for you. They offer a free ‘ask a librarian’ service as well as a paid-for literature search service.
Free enquiry service – ‘ask a librarian’
Our free enquiry service is open to all. If you have a health or social care question, need to check a reference or a fact, or require help with searching our database you can get in touch with us by using the webform below or emailing [email protected].
Our team of information specialists will aim to have an answer for you in one working day. If you need some more in-depth research, you can commission our team to carry out a literature search for you or your organisation.
Ask a librarian form
Ask a librarian frequently asked questions
Literature search service
Our team of librarians can carry out in-depth, high-quality searches to help you find the available evidence on a given topic. Using databases with access to journals, books, grey literature, statistical data and narrative reviews, they'll uncover the evidence you need.
To request a search, please complete our online form below, email [email protected] or call us on 020 7307 2568. On receiving your request one of our team will contact you to discuss your needs and give you a quotation for the work.
What is a literature search?
A literature search is a detailed, comprehensive, and systematic search of existing literature published on a specific topic. We search a variety of quality sources including databases, organisational websites, and statistical data to find the best available evidence to answer your research question.
From this search we gather a set of relevant results on the topic in question – usually a list of journal articles, reports or other relevant sources. We can then organise these and send them to you in a format that suits your needs.
You can select from the following:
For each type of search, you will receive a Word document containing your results, resources searched and search strategies. We can also provide results as a .ris or similar file to enable them to be imported into a reference manager or spreadsheet.
The example below gives an idea of what you receive from us.
Examples of our literature search work
Our recent clients include Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership NHS England, The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and Skills for Care.
The examples below demonstrate some of the topics we have searched for recently.
Improvement Cultures in Health and Adult Social Care settings
How do regulatory bodies identify and act upon ‘soft signals’?
How do people protect themselves against workplace anxiety in healthcare settings?
What progress has been made in digital transformation and innovation of health and care outside of hospitals?
What has been written recently on sexual safety at work?
Evaluation of Discharge to Assess, factors in hospital discharge that affect outcomes for people aged 18-65 who draw on social care.
What does the literature show about the factors associated with inequalities in social care?
Costs
Please complete the form below or contact us via email at [email protected] to receive a quote for the work based on your commissioning organisation and your requirements. Rates start from £680+VAT per day, and on average, a search will take 3-4 days depending on the complexity of the search.