Search strategies and literature ‘finding’ for systematic reviews Jenny Basford, Systematic Reviews Support Librarian mEsh

The systematic review process Formulate research / policy conclusions Identify possible papers from titles/abstracts Retrieve papers Extract data Further selection of primary studies using inclusion criteria Synthesis Formulate research question Design search strategy Quality appraisal Write protocol Search bibliographic databases

Learning outcomes To learn how to construct an effective search strategy and knowledge of advanced search techniques To learn how to document and reproduce the information search process To gain practical experience of conducting a literature search

Source: Pinterest (Feb 2013)

Information sources Electronic databases ‘Handsearching’ Citation searching Directly contacting researchers, relevant organisations/manufacturers

Search strategy design Use your structured question and the PICOS elements to design your search strategy Identify relevant papers you would expect to see in a good search: are their strategies available? Published search filters? (InterTASC) Choose 1-2 databases (Medline via Ovid; Cochrane Library) to research what MeSH/thesaurus terms are generated by simple searching

Boolean operators: simple and logical and can be used like algebraic equations Check for typos: get someone else to look at your strategy Proximity operators: look at the relevance of the hits your search generates  can you alter these? After finalising, adapt as necessary for each database

As standard, search: – Medline – EMBASE – Cochrane Library (incl. CENTRAL, DARE, NHS EED, CCTR) Start with the basics… databases

Think laterally… Handsearching, reference lists, citation searching Non-general databases: LILACS; PsycINFO; Identify relevant charities that sponsor research in the field Open Access repositories: OpenDOAR; OpenGrey; institutional repositories (e.g. QMRO) Trial registers Contact authors

Caution! Limitations of some databases (e.g. PubMed does not do proximity operators) Changes in database ‘language’: wildcards, truncation, proximity operators vary Indexing errors (librarians are human…) Sometimes simple is best

How to document the process Set up profiles on each of the databases and save your searches Export all your citations to your bibliographic manager, note the total and THEN de- duplicate Reproducibility is key (note what date you conduct the final search)

Date of database (as moving wall) Number of hits Separate column for comments/suggestions

Keep this: you will need to follow it throughout your review

Practical: appraising a search strategy In your groups, answer the questions in your workbook using the search strategy provided Any other typos in here? For extra credit: how would you improve this search?

Conclusion PICOS Scoping search Record, record, record! Ask for help with database language Be prepared to spend time on this and be creative…