Search tips for systematic reviews
Searching is a critical part of conducting the systematic review. Errors in the search process may result in a biased or incomplete evidence base.
Systematic review searches need to maximise recall and effectively deal with many potentially biasing factors. (Source: McGown, 2005, p.75)
Some suggestions:
- Check the search strategies used in other systematic reviews for tips on terms and combinations to use.
- Look for pre-tested search filters developed by several groups.
- Once you've found some useful research, use these as a test pool. Make sure these key papers are coming up in your search results as a way of testing your search strategies.
- Check which keywords authors and databases use to describe articles that are relevant to you.
- Take advantage of controlled vocabularies offered by particular databases, such as MeSH headings.
Searching is not an exact science. You may need to try quite a few different search terms in multiple databases before you find a search strategy that can be replicated across your selected databases.
For more help:
Consult the below resources for help with searching. For further support contact the Library.
Higher Degree Research students and staff can book a one-hour consultation with a Librarian to be held in person, by phone, or online video conference.
- Systematic Review Workbook
Start with this systematic review workbook, developed by the UOW library team. This workbook provides in-depth guidance on search experimentation, effective search strategies, replicating searches across databases, and options for tracking results.
- Finding information guide
Help students find information, including self-paced tutorials and videos on developing a search strategy, how to search specific databases, and how to critically evaluate sources.
- Literature review guide
This guide will help you to get started with searching for information for your Literature review.
- Medical Subject Headings - MeSH Medline (video)
This 4 minute video will show you how to use Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) to find more relevant results in Medline and CINAHL.
