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Systematic Reviews & Evidence Synthesis Methods

A detailed, step-by-step guide to the first several stages of an evidence synthesis review.

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Translating Search Strategies

Evidence synthesis methods require authors to search multiple databases, and not all databases accept the same search "syntax." Each individual database requires use of specialized search syntax, and therefore evidence synthesis search strategies must be translated between databases.

For example, a search for vitamin D[tiab] in PubMed will show you all citations with the phrase "vitamin D" in the title, abstract, or keywords, but a search for vitamin D[tiab] in Web of Science will not work at all.

Below is a template that you can use to document your search strategy translations and results, as well as search syntax translation tools and examples. Contact the Evidence Synthesis Library Team for assistance with search syntax translation.

Search Syntax Translation Examples

MEDLINE (via PubMed)

  • Click on "Advanced" below the search bar for line by line searching
  • The Medical Subject Headings [MeSH] tag searches for articles tagged with that MeSH term. See a tutorial on MeSH terms to learn more.
  • [MeSH:noexp]= the MeSH term is not "exploded" aka it does not include or search narrower terms
  • [tiab] tag searches for terms in the title, collection title, abstract, other abstract, or keywords
  • Truncation is denoted by * and searches for all endings of a particular word
    • For phrases, only truncate the last word of the phrase
    • Use truncation with caution, as it can weaken your search strategy due to PubMed's internal search structure
  • There is no wildcard searching (none or more unknown characters) in PubMed

A comprehensive search for weight gain in PubMed could be:

#1 - weight gain[MeSH:noexp] OR overweight[MeSH]

#2 - obes*[tiab] OR weight gain[tiab] OR overweight[tiab] OR over weight[tiab]

#3 - #1 OR #2

MEDLINE (via Ovid)

  • Navigate to the "Advanced Search" tab for line by line searching
  • MeSH term tag represented by /
  • “exp” means the MeSH term is “exploded” aka includes and searches all narrower terms
  • The .ti,ab,kw. tag searches for terms in the title, abstract, and keywords
  • Only accepts straight quotations marks (" "), and will not accept curly quotation marks (“ ”).
    • To ensure you have the correct quotation mark types, type quotation marks manually into the database instead of copying and pasting from another program.
    • Curly quotation marks will lead to faulty or incomplete search results
  • Truncation is denoted by * and searches for all endings ;of a particular word
    • Accepted inside quotation marks, but only truncate the last word of the phrase
  • Wildcards (none or one unknown character) are denoted by ?

A comprehensive search for weight gain and anemia in Ovid could be:

#1 - exp weight gain/ OR exp overweight/

#2 - (obes* OR "weight gain" OR overweight OR "over weight").ti,ab,kw.

#3 - #1 OR #2

#4 - (an?emi* OR "iron deficien*").ti,ab,kw.

#5 - #3 AND #5

CINAHL

  • Use “CINAHL Headings” represented by MH
  • The + means the term is “exploded” aka includes and searches all narrower terms
  • TX searches for terms in the full text and citation record
  • Quotation marks should be used to search exact phrases
  • Truncation (all endings of a particular word) and wildcards (none or more unknown characters) are denoted by *
    • Accepted inside quotation marks

 

A comprehensive search for weight gain and anemia in CINAHL could be:

#1 - MH(“weight gain+”)

#2 - TX(obes* OR "weight gain" OR overweight OR "over weight")

#3 - #1 OR #2

#4 - TX(an*emi* OR "iron deficien*")

#5 - #3 AND #4

Web of Science (Use this syntax for CABI, BIOSIS, and SciELO)

  • Navigate to the "Advanced Search" tab for line by line searching
  • There is no controlled vocabulary headings for searching the Web of Science Core Collection. Search for keywords in the title/abstract/keywords of articles only.
  • TS= searches for terms in the title, abstract, author keywords
  • Quotation marks should be used to search exact phrases
  • Truncation is denoted by * and searches for all endings of a particular word
  • $ in the middle of a word will find multiple spellings of that word

A comprehensive search for weight gain and anemia in Web of Science could be:

#1 - TS=(obes* OR "weight gain" OR overweight OR "over weight")

#2 - TS=(an$emi* OR "iron deficien*")

#3 - #1 AND #2

Scopus

  • Click on "Advanced" below the search bar for line by line searching
  • There are no headings in Scopus
  • TITLE-ABS-KEY searches for terms in the title, abstract, and keywords
  • Curly brackets should be used to search exact phrases or if you would not like inflected forms of a word searched
  • Quotation marks should be used to search for when variations of two or more words appear together in the title, abstract, or keywords
  • Truncation (all endings of a particular word) and wildcards (none or more unknown characters) are denoted by *
  • Truncation (*) is okay inside quotation marks, but not curly brackets

A comprehensive search for weight gain and anemia in Scopus could be:

#1 - TITLE-ABS-KEY(obes* OR {weight gain} OR overweight OR {over-weight})

#2 - TITLE-ABS-KEY(anemi* OR "iron deficien*")

#3 - #1 AND #2

Search Syntax Translation Tools

Grey Literature and Regional Database Search Strategies

Search strategies for grey literature and regional databases often have to be distilled significantly from the main search strategy. This is due to the fact that many grey literature and regional databases cannot handle complex search strategies and special syntax. In addition, searching grey literature and regional databases with all the terms from the main search strategy sometimes returns far too many results to screen. The recommended method of simplifying a search strategy is to combine a few of the most important terms from each key concept of your research question. See an example below.

 

Research Question: What is the effectiveness of Vitamin B12 supplements in reducing morbidity in pregnant women with HIV infection?

  • Key Concept 1 distilled terms: B12, B 12, cobalamin
  • Key Concept 2 distilled terms: pregnancy/pregnant, gestate/gestation/gestational
  • Key Concept 3 distilled terms: ​HIV, human immunodeficiency virus

Distilled Search Strategy: (B12 OR "B 12" OR cobalamin) AND (pregnan* OR gestat*) AND (HIV OR "human immunodeficiency virus")