Systematic Searching & Developing Strategies PDF

Systematic Searching & Developing Strategies Class : MED Year 2 Course : LLRC Resources Code : Library & Research Skills Date : JAN 28, 2025 Dr. Suchita Dsilva Session Overview: What is a Systematic Review? “A review that is conducted acco...

Systematic Searching & Developing Strategies Class : MED Year 2 Course : LLRC Resources Code : Library & Research Skills Date : JAN 28, 2025 Dr. Suchita Dsilva Session Overview: What is a Systematic Review? “A review that is conducted according to clearly stated, scientific research methods, and is designed to minimize biases and errors inherent to traditional, narrative reviews.” Margaliot, Zvi, Kevin C. Chung. Systematic Reviews: A Primer for Plastic Surgery Research. PRS Journal. 120/7 (2007)  What is the significance of Systematic Reviews? The large amount of medical literature requires clinicians and researchers alike to rely on systematic reviews in order to make an informed decision. Systematic Reviews minimize bias. “A systematic review is a more scientific method of summarizing literature because specific protocols are used to determine which studies will be included in the review.” Kevin C. Chung, MD, Patricia B. Burns, MPH, H. Myra Kim, ScD, “Clinical Perspective: A Practical Guide to Meta- Analysis.” The Journal of Hand Surgery. Vol. 31A No.10 December 2006. p.1671 Key Steps in a Review Formulating Research Questions & Objectives: Clearly defining research questions and objectives is crucial as they guide the entire systematic review process and help focus the study's scope. Register Your Protocol: Literature Search & Study Selection: Conducting a comprehensive literature search and systematic study selection ensures that all relevant studies are identified and included while minimizing bias. Data Extraction & Synthesis: Systematic extraction and synthesis of data enable researchers to analyse and interpret the findings from the selected studies. Formulate Your Research Question Identifying Key Components Break down a broad topic into specific components or elements that are of interest (e.g., population, intervention, comparison, outcome). Use relevant frameworks to identify concepts. Set Your Objectives Define specific objectives that align with the research questions, outlining what the review aims to achieve (e.g., summarizing evidence, identifying gaps, informing practice). Establish Inclusion & Exclusion Criteria The inclusion criteria includes specific characteristics or criteria that a study must meet to be considered for inclusion in the systematic review. Example of inclusion/exclusion criteria Study Methodology/Designs: Types of Participants: Types of Interventions: Any mode of delivery: Types of Comparisons: Types of Outcomes: Time Frame:  Register Your Protocol Why should you register? Where to register your systematic review? PROSPERO (International Prospective Transparency and Accountability: Register of Systematic Reviews): Reducing Publication Bias: Open Science Framework (OSF): OSF is Facilitating Reproducibility: a free, open platform that supports the Avoiding Duplication: entire research lifecycle. Researchers can create a project, pre-register their studies, share data, and collaborate with others. Search for Literature Develop Search Strategies: Design detailed search strategies using appropriate databases, keywords, MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) terms, and other relevant filters to identify relevant literature. Searching Multiple Sources: Conduct searches across multiple databases- min 3 databases is required. Screening & Selection: Screen the identified records based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, initially reviewing titles and abstracts followed by full-text screening. Managing References: Use reference management software like EndNote to organize, de-duplicate, and track the screening and selection process, maintaining transparency and reproducibility.  What is a search strategy? A search strategy is a plan that can be followed to connect a researcher with the information they need for a systematic or other kind of review. A strategy allows researchers to systematically find relevant materials on your topic. It ensures that the search is reproducible, verifiable and reaches a standard for reporting. Search strategies can be developed by performing basic “scoping” searches and adding in different search terms over time. ✓ Higgins JPT, Thomas J, Chandler J, Cumpston M, Li T, Page MJ, Welch VA (editors). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions version 6.3 (updated February 2022). Cochrane, 2022. Available from www.training.cochrane.org/handbook. Sample Systematic Review Tosello G, Torloni MR, Mota BS, Neeman T, Riera R. Breast surgery for metastatic breast cancer. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 Mar 15;3(3):CD011276. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD011276.pub2. PMID: 29542106; PMCID: PMC6494198.  Example Search Strategy Tosello G, Torloni MR, Mota BS, Neeman T, Riera R. Breast surgery for metastatic breast cancer. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 Mar 15;3(3):CD011276. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.C D011276.pub2. PMID: 29542106; PMCID: PMC6494198 Why trust the results of a systematic review? Because of the scope, transparency and reproducibility of the methods to retrieve literature for a systematic review, it is considered a reliable, high quality, evidence based research design. Search strategies within systematic reviews Transparent and reproducible search strategies are run across several bibliographic databases in order retrieve and evaluate all relevant studies. These strategies are extensive and contain certain coding to maximize relevant information retrieval. Different combinations used to find studies on “Breast Tumors” Conducting a successful literature search Keywords, Operators & Filters Search Tools Types of Literature Evaluate Information Organize Research  Keywords, operators and filters Brainstorm Expand your keywords Use boolean Refine keywords Look at the subject operators your search These are the headings of the materials Insert AND, OR, and results main ideas of you find and use those NOT into your Filters in the your research terms as applicable. search to broaden database allow question/topic Or or narrow it. you to narrow a sentence look up your keywords in a For example: search by year, subject-specific database PTSD OR Post content type, etc. thesaurus Traumatic Stress to find predefined terms Disorder AND (called soldiers NOT Navy. “controlled vocabulary”).  Keyword Searching A Keyword Search will retrieve papers Search Meaning Search Field Meaning where that word is mentioned. Field You can use databases to target your Ti Title Therap* Searches for therapy OR therapeutic OR therapist AB Abstract “Breast Where “Breast Cancer” appears searches to retrieve mentions of your Cancer” as a phrase words within the title, abstract, all Tiab Title or Abstract NEXT/1 Where Word 1 appears NEXT to Word 2 fields, text word, etc., areas of research Tw Words that appear in the text of the record NEAR/1 OR adj1 OR N1 Where Word 1 appears either side of Word 2 articles. Boolean S earching 1. Broaden Search: Use OR to connect similar words. e.g. (“Breast Cancer” OR “Breast Tumours”) (“Breast Surgery” OR “Mastectomy”) 2. Narrow Search: Use AND to overlap distinct concepts in a search. e.g. (“Breast Cancer” AND “Mastectomy”).  Subject Headings Sub ject Heading / Controlled Vocabulary S earch An assigned word or phrase used in some databases to uniformly describe a concept. A subject heading search of a topic will retrieve articles that are primarily concerned with that topic. Subject headings are distinct with particular databases. a) Broad and narrow terms in a hierarchy (e.g. Breast Neoplasms – Unilateral Breast Neoplasms). b) Specified subheadings (e.g. Breast Neoplasms / Surgery)  Identifying your Keywords Concept 1 AND Concept 2 Example: Search Strategy Search Tools Select the best and relevant tool available: ABSTRACT AND FULL TEXT DATABASES DISCOVERY SEARCH LIBRARY CATALOGUE CITATION DATABASES ON LIBRARY HOMEPAGE WEB SEARCH INSTITUTIONAL ENGINES REPOSITORY Types of literature ARTICLES BOOKS DATA GREY LITERATURE JOURNALS MONOGRAPHS EQUATIONS REPORTS NEWSPAPER E-BOOKS CHARTS CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS MAGAZINES REFERENCE WORKS GRAPHS PATENTS DATA SETS GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS DISSERTATION & THESES  Currency Evaluate When was the information published Information and is that important to know? Relevance How important is the information to your needs? To determine trustworthiness Authority of the material, try the CRAAP Who is the author and what are their credentials? test developed by the Meriam Do they work for a reputable institution? Library at California State Was the information published in a peer-reviewed journal? University. Accuracy How reliable is the information? Does it lack citations? Are there spelling errors? Purpose Is it a well-balanced independent piece of research, or intended to sell a product or idea? Search for Evidences Library E-resources Databases- EBSCO Medline, Health & Medical Complete, Science Direct, Cochrane Library, Scopus Medline Enter Keywords Apply Filters PubMed PubMed- Advanced Search  Cochrane / CENTRAL Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), available through the Cochrane Library has been recognized as the most comprehensive source of reports of randomized trials. It includes citations of reports of clinical trials that are not indexed in MEDLINE, Embase or other bibliographic databases. L i n k s t o ot h e r t r i a l r e g i s t r i e s Other registers of clinical trials ✓https://clinicaltrials.gov/ include ClinicalTrials.gov and WHO International Clinical Trials ✓https://www.isrctn.com/editAdva Registry Platform. ncedSearch Hand Searching and Citation Searching Known Journals A researcher may search known reputable journals in their subject area, e.g. Breast Cancer Research. Citation Searching Researchers can mine the citations or references of relevant articles in order to find another research that may have been missed. Similarly, there are ways for researchers to check to see where the relevant articles have been cited or referenced. Scopus record for: Certain web tools exist to track and link Tosello G, Torloni MR, Mota BS, Neeman T, Riera R. Breast citations., e.g. Scopus surgery for metastatic breast cancer. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2018;2018(3).  Journals Known journals can be identified through journal portals for handsearching, e.g. Lancet (2022) Vol 399, Issue 10336, Pages e39 – e40 Cheng, K. K., Lam, T. H., & Leung, C. C. Wearing face masks in the community during the COVID-19 pandemic: altruism and solidarity. Jour nal Search Type the Journal Title into Journal Search you wish to check if we have access to that particular journal ✓ https://rcsibahrain.primo.exlibrisgroup.com /discovery/jsearch?vid=973RCSIB_INST:RCSI B ✓ https://library.rcsi-mub.com/Brow-Zine  Grey Literature Published material that falls outside the category of peer reviewed articles or citations traditionally published in journal databases. Includes technical reports, official publications, conference papers, statistical information, theses, patents and regulatory or legislative documentation. Documents produced by official agencies, by academic, government and professional organisations and major bodies such as the EU and the WHO. G rey L ite ratu re Sou rces Many general sources are listed in our Grey Literature Guide. ✓ https://library.rcsi-mub.com/c.php?g=833362&p=7544038 HSE Reports and other Irish health research are available from: ✓ www.lenus.ie  The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting PRISMA Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) Statement is a reporting guideline for systematic reviews, consisting of an item Records identified through Additional records identified checklist and a flow diagram. Identification database searching through other sources (n = ) (n = ) The PRISMA Flow Diagram depicts the flow of information through the different phases of an Records after duplicates extensive review. Screening removed (n = ) It maps out the number of records identified with the numbers Records screened Records excluded included and excluded according to (n = ) (n = ) eligibility criteria. Eligibility Full-Text records assessed Both the checklist and the flow (n = ) diagram are available from ✓ https://prisma-statement.org/  Covidence Covidence is a web-based platform that streamlines the process of conducting a comprehensive literature review. It is a systematic reviews production tool for title/abstract screening, full- text screening, data abstraction, and quality assessment designed by researchers familiar with the systematic review process in order to make conducting reviews more efficient. Saving Search Results & Setting Up Alerts It is advisable to set up accounts in the particular databases and sources you use in order to save your searches. This will save you having to repeat steps you have taken previously. Use a username and password that you will remember.  Referencing is a standardized way to Referencing acknowledge the sources you have used in your work. Sources may include websites, reports, books or journal articles. By referencing correctly, you will guide readers to original ideas and avoid plagiarism. Referencing is a requirement for student essays and projects. RCSI Bahrain Library has a LibGuide to Referencing with examples in the most common styles, including Vancouver. RCSI also has a subscription for the reference manager, EndNote Desktop, for which there is also a LibGuide. Res ources ✓ https://library.rcsi- mub.com/vancouverreferencing ✓ https://library.rcsi- mub.com/c.php?g=1131495 ROB Tools Tools for assessing the quality of studies A searchable spreadsheet to help find an appropriate quality assessment or risk of bias tool for the study types in your systematic review. Download the file for full functionality. Validity assessment tools for evidence synthesis Common risk of bias tools: RoB 2.0 Randomized Controlled Trials ROBINS-I Non-randomized (observational) studies or cohorts of Interventions ROBINS-E Non-randomized (observational) studies or cohorts of Exposures other than interventions, including environmental and occupational exposures Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) Case control or cohort studies QUADAS-2 Diagnostic accuracy AXIS Cross-sectional/prevalence studies Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) Mixed-methods SRs with a variety of study types including both qualitative & quantitative, IHE Case Series Studies Critical Appraisal Checklist Case series JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Case Reports Case reports If you are not finding a Journal Article… Check the following sources for the PDF or Full Text links: PubMed, RCSI Repository , OpenDoar , Google Scholar , Open Access Button ResearchGate Author supplied copy of an article. No cost to register. Submit a request to Document Supply Organize Research Save materials such as article PDFs into a document library and download the citation information into a reference managing software. ENDNOTE 21 Support from the Library LibGuides- https://library.rcsi-mub.com/c.php?g=833362 Moodle- Information Seeking and Library Skills Contact Us- [email protected] Appointments: https://lrcroombookings.rcsi- mub.com/appointments/