Check first to see if the review you are proposing has already been done, or is in the process of being done. This ensures that you are not repeating the work of another reviewer. As well as databases such as Medline or CINAHL, qualitative and mixed methods reviews may be found in:
Here is an example search strategy from Cochrane for the following research question:
Is cognitive behaviour therapy a useful intervention in the prevention of postnatal depression?
The strategy will search for qualitative systematic reviews of Condition OR Intervention.
Sources which should be searched to ensure comprehensive coverage include:
SPIDER is an alternative system to PICO for defining a research question. For more information see
S= Sample
P,I = Phenomenon of Interest
D = Design
E = Evaluation
R = Research Type
EXAMPLE from Cooke et al above:
STARLITE
STARLITE refers to the standards for reporting literature searches (Sampling strategy, Type of study, Approaches, Range of years, Limits, Inclusion and exclusions, Terms used, Electronic sources)
S = Sampling strategy
T = Type of studies
A = Approaches
R = Range of years
L = Limits
I = Inclusion and exclusions
T = Terms used
E = Electronic sources