Documenting your searches can help you to stay organized, and remember which searches gave good or bad results, and thus perhaps save you some time. You can use a search protocol to document which databases you have used, your search terms and search techniques and inclusion or exclusion criteria (for example year and language). Be sure to note the date you did your searches. If you are writing a literature review with a systematic approach, it’s extra important to document your search strategy since it will be a part of the method section of your paper.
Example of a search protocol:
