Navigating the intricacies of a literature review can be a challenging task for many researchers and

academics. Crafting a comprehensive and well-structured literature review requires a deep

understanding of the subject matter, a critical analysis of existing research, and a strategic approach
to sourcing relevant literature. One key element in this process is the development of an effective
literature review search strategy.

Constructing a literature review search strategy involves meticulous planning and execution.
Researchers must identify relevant keywords, choose appropriate databases, and refine search queries
to ensure the retrieval of pertinent information. This process demands not only time and effort but
also a keen awareness of the specific nuances within the field of study.

As scholars embark on this challenging journey, they often find themselves grappling with the vast
amount of information available, struggling to filter out the noise and pinpoint the most valuable
sources. The need for a systematic and well-defined literature review search strategy becomes
apparent, serving as the foundation for a successful review that contributes meaningfully to the
existing body of knowledge.

For those seeking assistance in navigating the complexities of literature review search strategies, ⇒
StudyHub.vip ⇔ offers a reliable solution. With a team of experienced and skilled writers, the
platform specializes in aiding researchers in developing effective search strategies tailored to their
unique study areas. By leveraging the expertise of professionals in the field, individuals can
streamline the process, ensuring a thorough and well-organized literature review.

The challenges of constructing a literature review search strategy are undeniable, and seeking
external support can prove invaluable in overcoming these hurdles. ⇒ StudyHub.vip ⇔ stands as a
trustworthy resource, providing researchers with the assistance they need to excel in their academic
pursuits. As scholars grapple with the demands of literature review preparation, outsourcing this
critical aspect to a specialized service can make the difference between a mediocre review and one
that stands out for its depth and coherence.
Resources for students and trainees some key resources are highlighted in the next few pages
researchers around the world have found these useful its worth a look and it might save you a lot of
time. Treat each component as a separate concept (there are usually between 2-4 concepts). Top right
quarter select library resources to search and rectangle describing resources to search library
catalogue relevant journal articles and other resource. If articles (hypothetically or known) exist that
can answer the question but lack a certain element in their titles, abstracts, or keywords, that element
is unimportant to the question. It's also a good idea to review your search strategy with your co-
authors. Concepts to be ANDed go across the grid and concepts to be ORed go down the grid.
Dental Hygiene Library session Searching - 2nd class Dental Hygiene Library session Searching -
2nd class Target pain receptors with essential oils Target pain receptors with essential oils Introducing
amazing Healthy habits and fitness Introducing amazing Healthy habits and fitness Epidemiological
Study Design, Research Design, Clinical Research Epidemiological Study Design, Research Design,
Clinical Research Report Back from San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) 2023:
Spotlight. Apart from the syntax (especially Boolean operators and field codes) of the search
strategy, it is wise to have the search terms checked by the clinician or researcher familiar with the
topic. More experienced searchers can consider the basic steps to be existing knowledge that will
already be part of their normal workflow, although step 4 probably differs from general practice. For
instance, in the case of clinical question answering, the researcher will not be satisfied with many
references that contain a lot of irrelevant references. Publications Account settings Advanced Search
Journal List J Med Libr Assoc v.106(4); 2018 Oct A systematic approach to searching: an efficient
and complete method to develop literature searches Associated data. Simply insert your title and
abstract in any of the journal finder tools listed under the publishing your systematic review tab. A
djacency searching commands differ among databases. This record could be a document, table or
spreadsheet with: The names of the sources you search and which provider you accessed them
through - eg Medline (Ovid), Web of Science (Thomson Reuters). Search Strategy The Search
Strategy Builder is a tool designed to teach you how to create a search string using Boolean logic.
This can be done after included references have been determined by the authors of the systematic
review. These hypothetical (when possible, combined with known) articles can be used as guidance
for constructing the search strategy. 3. Decide which key concepts address the different elements of
the question Key concepts are the topics or components that the desired articles should address, such
as diseases or conditions, actions, substances, settings, domains (e.g., therapy, diagnosis, etiology), or
study types. For example: How do s t udents view inclusive educational practices in schools.
Determining how many results are acceptable for screening is often a matter of negotiation with the
SR team. 5. Choose an appropriate database and interface to start with Important factors for
choosing databases to use are the coverage and the presence of a thesaurus. Develop a search
strategy A search strategy is an organized combination of keywords, phrases, subject headings, and
limiters used to search a database. Seminario biologia molecular-Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana.
Top left quarter is identify main concepts with rectangle describing how to do this by
identifying:controlled vocabulary terms, synonyms, keywords and spelling. This way, the researchers
can deliver immediate feedback on the relevance of proposed search terms and retrieved references.
As we aimed to describe the creation of systematic searches in full detail, the method starts at a basic
level with the analysis of the research question and the creation of search terms. Readers who are
new to SR searching are advised to follow all steps described. Data will be collected regarding the
reasons for exclusion. The main Boolean operators are: OR is used to find articles that mention either
of the topics you search for. Key concepts from the research question can be grouped to create
elements in the search strategy. A search strategy is an organized combination of keywords, phrases,
subject headings, and limiters used to search a database. When searching for a more general
thesaurus term, the more specific (narrower) terms in the branches below that term will also be
searched (this is frequently referred to as “exploding” a thesaurus term). If your search strategy is
retrieving a lot of irrelevant results, look at the irrelevant records to determine why they are being
retrieved.
The number of search results from each source and each strategy used. Document your systematic
literature review research question criteria info sources search keywords searches systematic
literature review templates for documenting your question criteria information sources search
strategy and searches. 2 writing a systematic literature review. Registration forms are used in almost
all walks of life for several purposes. Re. For instance, Embase is a European database, many of the
medical terms are slightly different than those used in MEDLINE and PubMed. It is considered the
gold standard for biomedical searching, partially due to historical reasons, since it was the first of its
kind, and more so now that it is freely available via the PubMed interface. Single-line search
strategies also allow easy translation to other syntaxes using find-and-replace technology to update
field codes and other syntax elements or using macros (step 13). A search strategy should be tested
for completeness. Schematic representation of translation between databases used at Erasmus
University Medical Center Dotted lines represent databases that are used in less than 80% of the
searches. They can easily be saved in a text document and repeated by copying and pasting for
search updates. We thank Professor Oscar Franco for reviewing earlier drafts of this article.
Brainstorm keywords related to your topic, then enter your search statement here. They are highly
customizable, and you can use them in any way you desire. Search strategy for literature review
Search strategy for literature review. Have a search framework Search frameworks are mnemonics
which can help you focus your research question. Contact Your Faculty Team Librarian Faculty
librarians are here to provide assistance to students, researchers and academic staff by providing
expert searching advice, research and curriculum support. Schema for determining the optimal order
of elements Bias in elements The choice of elements in a search strategy can introduce bias through
use of overly specific terminology or terms often associated with positive outcomes. Your search
strategy will include: keywords boolean operators variations of search terms (synonyms, suffixes)
subject headings Your search strategy may include: truncation (where applicable) phrases (where
applicable) Researching for your literature review: Develop a search strategy Start developing a
search strategy by identifying the key words and concepts within your research question. However,
by following the steps and using the tools as described above, searchers can gain confidence first
and increase speed through practice. A search that is too specific or too sensitive for the intended
goal can be adapted to become more sensitive or specific. This is particularly important if you are
undertaking a systematic review or an in-depth piece of work Subject headings may vary between
databases, so you need to investigate each database separately to find the subject headings they use.
Use Boolean logic to combine search terms Boolean operators (AND, OR and NOT) allow you to
try different combinations of search terms or subject headings. This method, with practice, provides
a stepwise approach that facilitates the search strategy development process from question
clarification to final iteration and beyond. In contrast, especially in more general elements, multiple
thesaurus terms can be found to describe one element. Track and save your search Class Recording:
Writing an Effective Narrative Review A search strategy includes a combination of keywords,
subject headings, and limiters (language, date, publication type, etc.) A search strategy should be
planned out and practiced before executing the final search in a database. More experienced
searchers can consider the basic steps to be existing knowledge that will already be part of their
normal workflow, although step 4 probably differs from general practice. What costs are associated
with hospitalization for bacterial. Top left quarter is identify main concepts with rectangle describing
how to do this by identifying:controlled vocabulary terms, synonyms, keywords and spelling. A
good starting point for a search is hypothesizing what the research that can answer the question
would look like. Dental Hygiene Library session Searching - 2nd class Dental Hygiene Library
session Searching - 2nd class Target pain receptors with essential oils Target pain receptors with
essential oils Introducing amazing Healthy habits and fitness Introducing amazing Healthy habits
and fitness Epidemiological Study Design, Research Design, Clinical Research Epidemiological
Study Design, Research Design, Clinical Research Report Back from San Antonio Breast Cancer
Symposium (SABCS) 2023: Spotlight. We advise that searchers do not exclude all possible irrelevant
meanings, as it is very time consuming to identify all the variations, it will result in unnecessarily
complicated search strategies, and it may lead to erroneously narrowing the search and, thereby,
reduce recall.
Systematic Literature Review Of Templates For Reporting Literature review template the following
is a simple pattern to follow for writing up your systematic literature review. The elements to use in a
search strategy can be found in the plot of elements in Figure 1, by following the top row from left
to right. A search strategy is an organized combination of keywords, phrases, subject headings, and
limiters used to search a database. The authors have established a method that describes step by step
the process of developing a systematic search strategy as needed in the systematic review. Software
to help you create coded data extraction forms from templates include. The 'gold set' will also
provide a means of testing your search strategy When an indexed article is not retrieved, your search
strategy can be revised in order to include it (see what concepts or keywords can be incorporated
into your search strategy so that the article is retrieved). Some elements are less important than
others or may unnecessarily complicate or restrict a search strategy. Each word is added after the
combined decision of the searcher and the researcher, with the possibility of directly comparing
results with and without the new term. 14. Translate to other databases To retrieve as many relevant
references as possible, one has to search multiple databases. In the case of an SR, the researchers do
not want to miss any relevant reference and are willing to handle many irrelevant references to do so.
XfilesPro Unlocking the Cloud's True Potential: Why Multitenancy Is The Key. Questions that are
too broad or too vague cannot be answered easily in a systematic way and will generally result in an
overwhelming number of search results. As an example, you work in an aged care facility and are
interested in whether cranberry juice might help reduce the common occurrence of urinary tract
infections. In contrast, especially in more general elements, multiple thesaurus terms can be found to
describe one element. Documenting searches for traditional (narrative) literature reviews is not
essential but will help you stay organized and perhaps save you some time. Develop a search strategy
A search strategy is an organized combination of keywords, phrases, subject headings, and limiters
used to search a database. Each of these two databases has its own thesaurus with its own unique
definitions and structure. For example, for MEDLINE you can use MeSH (Medical Subject
Headings) and for Embase you can use the EMTREE thesaurus. If the interface allows relevance
ranking, use that in the evaluation. Determining how many results are acceptable for screening is
often a matter of negotiation with the SR team. 5. Choose an appropriate database and interface to
start with Important factors for choosing databases to use are the coverage and the presence of a
thesaurus. Adding such an overlapping element could lead to missing relevant references. MD
Anderson faculty and staff can also request a one-on-one consultation with a librarian or scientific
editor. However, during the optimization process, the searcher is likely to find extra synonyms that
might consist of one word. An overview of different syntaxes for four major interfaces for
bibliographic medical databases (PubMed, Ovid, EBSCOhost, Embase.com, and ProQuest) is shown
in Table 1. A search strategy and search results should be documented throughout the searching
process. Develop Search Strategy The search strategy used for literature review. Therefore, searching
Embase will be, by definition, more complete than searching MEDLINE only. Using the schema in
Figure 1, elements can be ordered by their specificity and importance to determine the best search
approach. To mitigate this, we recommend using the find-and-replace functionality of text editors
like Microsoft Word to ease the translation of syntaxes between other databases. This method often
adds valuable extra terms to our search strategy and, therefore, extra, relevant references to our
search results. For example: How do students view inclusive educational practices in schools.
Creating search strategies for systematic reviews, finding the best balance between sensitivity and
specificity, and translating search strategies between databases is challenging. Literature search - a
librarian's handout to introduce tools, terms and techniques Created by Elsevier librarian, Katy
Kavanagh Web, this document outlines tools, terms and techniques to think about when conducting
a literature search. Strong professional language and vocabulary should be used. Can you change
these without losing any relevant articles from your results. If articles (hypothetically or known)
exist that can answer the question but lack a certain element in their titles, abstracts, or keywords,
that element is unimportant to the question. You will need to test the strategy along the way to
ensure that you are finding relevant articles. They replace zero, one or more characters in the middle
of a word. This is because subject headings find articles according to their subject, even if the article
does not use your chosen key words. Advantages of subject searching: Helps locate articles that use
synonyms, variant spellings, plurals Search terms don’t have to appear in the title or abstract Note:
Subject headings are often unique to a particular database, so you will need to look for appropriate
subject headings in each database you intend to use. The symbols may vary in different databases -
See the Database search tips guide for details or check the Help link in any database. Contact Your
Faculty Team Librarian Faculty librarians are here to provide assistance to students, researchers and
academic staff by providing expert searching advice, research and curriculum support. PICO can be
adapted to PICOT (which adds T ime) or PICOS (which adds S tudy design), or PICOC (adding C
ontext). A search that is too specific or too sensitive for the intended goal can be adapted to become
more sensitive or specific. Each word is added after the combined decision of the searcher and the
researcher, with the possibility of directly comparing results with and without the new term. 14.
Translate to other databases To retrieve as many relevant references as possible, one has to search
multiple databases. For each concept list the key words derived from your research question, as well
as any other relevant terms or synonyms that you have found in your preliminary searches.
Sometimes, no distinct thesaurus term is available for a specific key concept that describes the
concept in enough detail. Your search strategy will include: keywords boolean operators variations of
search terms (synonyms, suffixes) subject headings Your search strategy may include: truncation
(where applicable) phrases (where applicable) limiters (date, language, age, publication type, etc.) A
search strategy usually requires several iterations. Steps to increase sensitivity or specificity of a
search strategy can be found in the supplementary appendix. 13. Check for errors Errors might not
be easily detected. Elements in a search strategy do not necessarily follow the patient, intervention,
comparison, outcome (PICO) structure or any other related structure. For example: How do s t
udents view inclusive educational practices in schools. What is new? This method encourages
searchers to start their search development process using empty syntax first and later adding the
thesaurus terms and free-text synonyms. We feel this helps the searcher to focus on the search terms,
instead of on the structure of the search query. However, the number expected is often unknown, and
very sensitive search strategies will always retrieve many irrelevant articles. The PICO framework
would look like this: Now that the issue has been broken up to its elements, it is easier to turn it into
an answerable research question: “Does cranberry juice help reduce urinary tract infections in people
living in aged care facilities?” Other frameworks may be helpful, depending on your question and
your field of interest. Therefore, it is necessary to identify extra, possibly relevant search terms and
add them to the test search in an OR relationship with the already used search terms. A good place
to start, and a well-known strategy, is scanning the top retrieved articles when sorted by relevance,
looking for additional relevant synonyms that could be added to the search strategy. When searching
for “disease recurrence,” articles about “disease free” may be relevant as well. Define your search
Decide where to search What is a search strategy Advanced search tips. The difference in number of
terms is even higher considering that many synonyms in MeSH are permuted terms (i.e., inversions
of phrases using commas). TRANSPORT PROCESS ACROSS CELL MEMBRANE.pptx
TRANSPORT PROCESS ACROSS CELL MEMBRANE.pptx Peripheral Vascular Disease (PVD):
Physiotherapy assessment and management Peripheral Vascular Disease (PVD): Physiotherapy
assessment and management Seminario biologia molecular-Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. Dr.
Madduru Muni Haritha TRANSPORT PROCESS ACROSS CELL MEMBRANE.pptx
TRANSPORT PROCESS ACROSS CELL MEMBRANE.pptx PoojaDahale3 Peripheral Vascular
Disease (PVD): Physiotherapy assessment and management Peripheral Vascular Disease (PVD):
Physiotherapy assessment and management Tushar Sharma Seminario biologia molecular-
Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. Top right quarter select library resources to search and rectangle
describing resources to search library catalogue relevant journal articles and other resource.
The asterisk applied to the root of a word captures other endings to that root word making it useful
for retrieving singular, plural and other variations of a keyword. An element can also be unimportant
because of expected bias or an overlap with another element. To mitigate this, we recommend using
the find-and-replace functionality of text editors like Microsoft Word to ease the translation of
syntaxes between other databases. Because of the complexity of the Embase thesaurus, Emtree,
which contains much more specific thesaurus terms than the MEDLINE Medical Subject Headings
(MeSH) thesaurus, translation from Emtree to MeSH is easier than the other way around. Preferred
reporting items for systematic reviews and meta analyses. Check the database help section if you are
not sure which searching commands to use. Develop a search strategy A search strategy is an
organized combination of keywords, phrases, subject headings, and limiters used to search a
database. Single-line search strategies also allow easy translation to other syntaxes using find-and-
replace technology to update field codes and other syntax elements or using macros (step 13).
Research Guides: Literature Reviews: Develop Search Strategies Developing a search strategy is a
balance between needing a very precise search that yields fewer highly relevant results or a
comprehensive search (high retrieval) with lower precision. The symbols may vary in different
databases - See the Database search tips guide for details or check the Help link in any database.
Sitemap case study creative writing presentation problem solving rewiew prompts websites tips. For
this method, we recommend starting with the most important and specific elements. PICO is a
search framework commonly used in the health sciences to focus clinical questions. Steps to increase
sensitivity or specificity of a search strategy can be found in the supplementary appendix. 13. Check
for errors Errors might not be easily detected. This method, with practice, provides a stepwise
approach that facilitates the search strategy development process from question clarification to final
iteration and beyond. Simply insert your title and abstract in any of the journal finder tools listed
under the publishing your systematic review tab. Using the schema in Figure 1, elements can be
ordered by their specificity and importance to determine the best search approach. Subject headings
(index terms) Identify appropriate subject headings (index terms). Federal government websites
often end in.gov or.mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal
government site. Search strategy for literature review Search strategy for literature review.
Sometimes certain therapies are interventions for one specific disease. Software to help you create
coded data extraction forms from templates include. The synthesis of multiple high-quality studies
creates a single product out of all the best known evidence. Some elements are less important than
others or may unnecessarily complicate or restrict a search strategy. You will need to test the strategy
along the way to ensure that you are finding relevant articles. A literature review should give context
to your thesis and, if possible, reveal any gaps in the current literature. Another limitation is the
customization of the macros to a specific institution’s resources. Scopus, Web of Science) to see who
has cited a known relevant article results of preliminary scoping searches. Following the method
outlined below simplifies the process: Create single-line queries in a text document (not combining
multiple record sets), which allows immediate checking of the relevance of retrieved references and
efficient optimization. For the question “does prolonged breastfeeding improve intelligence
outcomes in children?,” searching specifically for the element of duration will introduce bias, as
articles that find a positive effect of prolonged breastfeeding will be much more likely to mention
time factors in their titles or abstracts.
Have a search framework Search frameworks are mnemonics which can help you focus your research
question. Contact Your Faculty Team Librarian Faculty librarians are here to provide assistance to
students, researchers and academic staff by providing expert searching advice, research and
curriculum support. For example: How do students view inclusive educational practices in schools.
However, with the methods for optimization as described (step 11), errors are recognized easily
because missed synonyms and spelling errors will be identified during the process. Develop a search
strategy A search strategy is an organized combination of keywords, phrases, subject headings, and
limiters used to search a database. Searching with subject headings Database subject headings are
controlled vocabulary terms that a database uses to describe what an article is about. Alternatively,
many interfaces offer a certain code to replace zero or one characters, allowing a search for
“pediatric” or “paediatric” as “p?ediatric.” Table 1 provides a detailed description of the syntax for
different interfaces. Type the syntax (Boolean operators, parentheses, and field codes) before adding
terms, which reduces the chance that errors are made in the syntax, especially in the number of
parentheses. You should also include any other literature sources you used. Any change to the search
strategy should be done in the log document, assuring that the search strategy in the log is always the
most recent. 7. Identify appropriate index terms in the thesaurus of the first database Searches
should start by identifying appropriate thesaurus terms for the desired elements. A limitation of our
method is that it works best with subscription-based and licensed resources. If you have any
problems with organising your thoughts prior, during and after searching please contact your Library
Faculty Team for individual help. Overlapping elements Elements in a question sometimes overlap in
their meaning. The authors have established a method that describes step by step the process of
developing a systematic search strategy as needed in the systematic review. If it is unclear which
element should be adapted to retrieve a certain article, combine that article with each element
separately. Schema for determining the optimal order of elements Bias in elements The choice of
elements in a search strategy can introduce bias through use of overly specific terminology or terms
often associated with positive outcomes. Documenting searches for traditional (narrative) literature
reviews is not essential but will help you stay organized and perhaps save you some time.
Additionally, each database you search is developed differently. A background study of the reviewed
text always helps your case. Top left quarter is identify main concepts with rectangle describing how
to do this by identifying:controlled vocabulary terms, synonyms, keywords and spelling. Following
the method outlined below simplifies the process: Create single-line queries in a text document (not
combining multiple record sets), which allows immediate checking of the relevance of retrieved
references and efficient optimization. This method helps information specialists in developing
librarian-mediated searches for systematic reviews as well as medical and health care practitioners
who are searching for evidence to answer clinical questions. The synthesis of multiple high-quality
studies creates a single product out of all the best known evidence. If articles (hypothetically or
known) exist that can answer the question but lack a certain element in their titles, abstracts, or
keywords, that element is unimportant to the question. Each of these two databases has its own
thesaurus with its own unique definitions and structure. Several factors can complicate the
identification of thesaurus terms. Sometimes, one thesaurus term is found that exactly describes a
specific element. Sometimes concepts from different parts of the PICO structure can be grouped
together into one search element, such as when the desired outcome is frequently described in a
certain study type. 4. Decide which elements should be used for the best results Not all elements of
a research question should necessarily be used in the search strategy. Unlocking the Cloud's True
Potential: Why Multitenancy Is The Key. We advise that searchers do not exclude all possible
irrelevant meanings, as it is very time consuming to identify all the variations, it will result in
unnecessarily complicated search strategies, and it may lead to erroneously narrowing the search and,
thereby, reduce recall. For our method, an interface that allows searching with proximity operators is
desirable, and full functionality of the thesaurus, including explosion of narrower terms, is crucial.