LibGuides: Systematic Reviews: Documenting the search process

Documenting the Search Process

Systematic review searches must be documented in sufficient detail to allow others to be able to assess the thoroughness of the search. You will need to keep track of:

Each database searched, together with the platform searched via (eg. EBSCO Medline, PsycINFO, SCOPUS)
The date each search were conducted
Subject headings and keywords used - including whether terms were exploded, truncated, etc
Search history, including the combination of terms
Number of results retrieved for each search and combination
Total number of records
Duplicates\ identified
Numbers pre-screening and post-screening

In addition, all searches conducted via handsearching must identify the source (name of journal, conference proceedings, etc), plus the years.

Guides to Documenting the Search Process

Section 6.6 - Documenting and reporting the search process
"The search process needs to be documented in enough detail throughout the process to ensure that it can be reported correctly in the review, to the extent that ll the searches of all the databases are reproducible" (Cochrane Handbook, 2008, p. 144)

PRISMA stands for Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. It is an evidence-based minimum set of items for reporting in systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

The PRISMA Statement consists of a 27-item checklist and a four-phase flow diagram. It is an evolving document that is subject to change periodically as new evidence emerges. In fact, the PRISMA Statement is an update and expansion of the now-out dated QUOROM Statement. This website contains the current definitive version of the PRISMA Statement.