Running the actual searches for your systematic review requires a few things. Prior to beginning be prepared to:
|
CONDUCT THE SEARCH |
|
Run all database searches on the same day |
|
Search for grey literature, hand searching, etc. (if applicable) |
Utilize the PRISMA-S Checklist to ensure that you are noting all required components for reporting the searches.
| Section/topic | # | Checklist Item | Location(s) Reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| INFORMATION SOURCES & METHODS | |||
| Database name | 1 | Name each individual database searched, stating the platform for each | |
| Multi-database searching | 2 | If databases were searched simultaneously on a single platform, state the name of the platform listing all of the databases searched. | |
| Study registries | 3 | List any study registries searched | |
| Online resources and browsing | 4 | Describe any online or print source purposefully searched or browsed (e.g. table of contents, print conference proceedings, web sites), and how this was done. | |
| Citation searching | 5 | Indicate whether cited references or citing references were examined, and describe any methods used for locating cited/citing references (e.g. browsing references lists, using a citation index, setting up email alerts for references citing included studies). | |
| Contacts | 6 | Indicate whether additional studies or data were sought by contacting authors, experts, manufacturers, or others. | |
| Other methods | 7 | Describe any additional information sources or search methods used. | |
| SEARCH STRATEGIES | |||
| Full Search strategies | 8 | Include the search strategies for each database and information source, copied and pasted exactly as run. | |
| Limits and restrictions | 9 | Specify that no limits were used, or describe any limits or restrictions applied to a search (e.g., date or time period, language, study design) and provide justification for their use. | |
| Search filters | 10 | Indicate whether published search filters were used (as originally designed or modified), and if so, cite the filter(s) used. | |
| Prior work | 11 | Indicate when search strategies from other literature reviews were adapted or reused for a substantive part or all of the search, citing the previous review(s) | |
| Updates | 12 | Report the methods used to update the search(es) (e.g., rerunning searches, email alerts). | |
| Dates of searches | 13 | For each search strategy, provide the date when the last search occurred. | |
| PEER REVIEW | |||
| Peer Review | 14 | Describe any search peer review process. | |
| MANAGING RECORDS | |||
| Total Records | 15 | Document the total number of records identified from each database and other information sources. | |
| Deduplication | 16 | Describe the processes and any software used to deduplicate records from multiple database searches and other information sources |
Running the individual searches in each database should be straight forward since your search strings have already been created and tested. Your searches may return a large number of results and you want to keep track of all of these - including duplicates and those you will exclude later. Citation managers or Covidence can help you with this process. The library currently supports:
Other helpful tools include:
A comprehensive and exhaustive systematic review will include a search of nontraditional publications known as grey literature. This type of literature is not usually found in your average library database. Examples of grey literature include:
Grey literature can be found through:
Other search methods include contacting experts, citation and reference searching, and hand searching key journals.
