1. Systematic literature searching in social work: Case study on intimate partner violence. Tony McGinn, PhD Candidate, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, Brian J Taylor, PhD, Professor of Social Work, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, Mary McColgan, Professor of Social Work, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, Janice McQuilkan, Subject Assistant Librarian, University Of Ulster,
CONTEXT
Literature searching in the social work field is often more difficult than in other disciplines because of the range of terminology used for key concepts, and because relevant evidence is found in databases designed for a range of other disciplines.
Developments in literature search methods and comparisons of search facilities help facilitate access to the best available evidence for social workers.
RESULTS:Comparison of database sensitivity, precision and total relevant hits.
Database
Total hits retrieved
Unique hits
Sensitivity
Precision
Average ranking
No.
Rank %
SSA (Social Services Abstracts)
373 9 2 39 8
2.0
PsycINFO
912 11 1 40 3 5
2.3
ASSIA (Applied Social Science Index and Abstracts)
335 4 27 6
3.3
Sociological Abstracts
481 22
3.7
CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Applied Health
749 7 23
4.3
National Criminal Justice Research Service
299 16
4.7
SCOPUS 17
5.3
Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) via Web of Knowledge 28
6.3
EMBASE
918 14
6.7
International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS)
297 10
7.3
Proquest Health and Medical Complete
383
Social Care Online, previously CareData
385
7.7
Google Scholar (Advanced function)
100 12
8.3
MEDLINE 13
9.3
Total
5581
52 
RESULTS: The top ranking six databases provided 94% of relevant articles found. The figure represents the relative strengths of these databases in terms of precision, sensitivity and total number of relevant hits .
METHOD
The performance of 14 databases and web search engines were appraised by applying a search formula for articles related to the process of change for perpetrators of intimate partner violence.
The search process consisted of a series of steps:
Establishing criteria for article relevance
Compiling list of potentially relevant bibliographic databases & web-search engines
Performing a pilot test-search on potential databases and web search engines
Establishing concept groups for the generic search formula
Selecting search terms for each concept group
Running the searches
Screening hits for relevant articles
Identifying unique hits (relevant articles found on one database only)
Calculating sensitivity (the degree to which relevant articles are found)
Calculating precision (the degree to which irrelevant articles are excluded)
Discussion and Conclusion
Systematic reviews of previous research are a vital part of professional social work practice. Searching for studies of diverse designs is complex and the process required for a thorough search may hinder busy practitioners. Senior practitioners who specialise in retrieving (rather than undertaking) research are required as well as collaborative arrangements with librarians and information specialists. Decisions about ‘reasonable’ rather than ‘as good as possible’ searches may have to be made in view of time constraints. For example the majority of relevant hits on this topic could have been found with just four searches if the most relevant databases were known.