# Welcome to SMIRK Unit
8 - Systematic reviewing

- General pointers
- Useful vocabulary
- Getting started
- Information sources
- Databases in business and society
- Databases in health and life sciences
- Databases for the built and natural environment
- Grey literature
- Grey literature 2
- Finding grey literature
- Finding grey literature 2
- Using the cochrane Library
- Back to main index

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SMIRK - Systematic Reviewing by Dr Helen Marlborough modified by Marion Kelt, Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

# General pointers

This page aims to give a few general pointers to help you carry out a systematic review. A systematic review is not the same thing as an annotated bibliography, a best evidence topic, a critically approased topic (CAT) or a literature search. However, it may be worthwhile reading these pages if you are about to undertake any of these activities!

#### Some definitions:

- Systematic reviews are a comprehensive survey of a focused question in which all of the primary studies of the highest level of evidence are systematically identified, appraised and then summarised according to an explicit and reproducible methodology. Systematic reviews differ from traditional reviews and commentaries produced by ‘content experts’ in that they adhere to a scientific methodology which seeks to minimise bias and errors. There are a number of international organisations that prepare, maintain and disseminate systematic reviews including: The Cochrane Collaboration; The Campbell Collaboration (C2); The Joanna Briggs Institute.
- A randomised controlled trial (RCT) is an experiment in which investigators randomly allocate eligible people into (for example, treatment and control) groups to receive or not to receive one or more interventions that are being compared.
- A Meta analysis is a statistical technique for assembling the results of several studies in a review into a single numerical estimate.

Types of review:
At GCU, there are three main types of review:

- Cochrane Collaboration
- Joanna Briggs Institute
- Your own systematic review as part of your research

The first two have specific methodologies and handbooks setting them out. The third type of review allows you more flexibility in your methodology, but there are some general rules that you should bear in mind. Here are links to some general information:

- The Cochrane collaboration open learning modules
- The Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) guidance for undertaking reviews in health care is available to download.
- The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) has tools to assist critical appraisal of systematic reviews, RCTs, qualitative research, economic evaluation studies, cohort studies, case control studies, and diagnostic studies.
- SIGN handbook - chapter on systematic reviews (about to be updated)

Is it a new review or an update?
If you have been asked to update a previously published review, then you will have to follow an already established search strategy. This may cause problems if the database software has changed (for example not allowing command line searching) or if new resources have become available. This is where it is always a good idea to talk to the review team or the supervisor.

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SMIRK - Systematic Reviewing by Dr Helen Marlborough modified by Marion Kelt, Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

# Useful vocabulary

#### Annotated bibliography:

An annotated bibliography gives an account of the research that has been done on a given topic. It is an alphabetical list of research sources. In addition to bibliographic data, an annotated bibliography provides a concise summary of each source and some assessment of its value or relevance. Depending on your assignment, an annotated bibliography may be one stage in a larger research project, or it may be an independent project.

#### Best evidence topic:

BETs were developed in the Emergency Department of Manchester Royal Infirmary, to provide rapid evidence-based answers to real-life clinical questions, using a systematic approach to reviewing the literature. BETs take into account the shortcomings of much current evidence, allowing physicians to make the best of what there is. Check out the BestBETs web site.

#### Critically approased topic (CAT):

A short summary of evidence on a topic, usually focused around a clinical question. A CAT is like a shorter and less rigorous version of a systematic review, summarising the best available research evidence on a topic. Usually more than one study is included in a CAT. When you s summarise a single study, the outcome is a critically appraised paper (or CAP).

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SMIRK - Systematic Reviewing by Dr Helen Marlborough modified by Marion Kelt, Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License t

# Getting started

If you are carrying out the literature search as a member of a wider team, you should talk to the other members of your team regularly. Different people may use the terminology in different ways depending on their location or profession. This may prevent misunderstandings and make for a happier project! The same applies to researchers carrying out a new review, regular contact with your supervisor is worthwhile, you may benefit from their professional expertise. Here are some other general pointers:

- Limits? Once the topic has been clearly defined, you should consider whether you want to limit the search by language or date of publication. This may be helpful when your topic is fairly new, but applying limits can miss out definitive older articles. Always discuss with your team or supervisor!
- Defining your search terms The best way to do this is to run a couple of wide searches on the most commonly used databases in your subject, for example CINAHL and Medline. Find some relevant articles and read through them highlighting key words or phrases. You can then use these as the basis for your search strategy. Make a list of the core terms and any synonyms and spelling variations. At this stage you can discuss these terms with your project team or supervisor.
- Thesaurus terms The most precise way to search any database is to use the words included in the thesaurus for the individual database. As new articles are added to a database, they are indexed using a list of approved keywords or thesaurus. This is why advanced researchers always search one database at a time - remember that thesauri vary from database to database. Even natural language words can vary in the way they are used! Using this type of search usually produces very focused results.
- Natural language searching Sometimes you may need to use alternative keywords when searching. The research protocol may require you to widen out your search to ensure that you don't miss out any research. You will also find that many grey literature sources and search engines do not use thesauri, so you may have to use a combination of terms.
- Talk to your librarian. Your subject librarian is there to help you and can give you a lot of help with advanced searching.

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SMIRK - Systematic Reviewing by Dr Helen Marlborough modified by Marion Kelt, Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

# Information sources

For a health related systematic review, the first place to look is the Cochrane Library. This contains several databases

- Cochrane Reviews - the full text of Cochrane systematic reviews of the effects of health care interventions;
- Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE) - critical assessments and structured abstracts of good systematic reviews published elsewhere;
- Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) - bibliographic information on controlled trials;
- Health Technology Assessment reports (HTA) - assessments of healthcare interventions;
- NHS Economic Evaluation Database (NHSEED) - published economic evaluations of health care interventions.

With the exception of Cochrane Reviews, many of the references indexed in the Cochrane Library can also be found on databases such as Medline, but the Cochrane Library only indexes studies which have been evaluated and found to be methodologically sound. We have a workthrough guide and short instructions to get you started. This should give you a general overview of the subject.

Each subject area has several large well-established databases which should form the basis of your review. We have pulled them together over the next few pages.

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SMIRK - Systematic Reviewing by Dr Helen Marlborough modified by Marion Kelt, Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

# Databases in business
and society

The main databases used in systematic reviewing are:

Database | Theasaurus used
FAME (Financial Analysis Made Easy) | FAME
Global Market Information Database | GMID
HeinOnline | Hein
InfoTrac custom journals | InfoTrac
Key note | Key note
Lexis Library | Lexis
MINTEL | MINTEL
Proquest Central | Proquest
PsycInfo (now in Proquest) | PsycINFO
Web of Knowledge | KeyWords Plus
Westlaw | Westlaw

If you are following a set search protocol, it may specify which databases you should search. There are many more databases available, they are listed on our library web site. If you are still unsure, contact your librarian.

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SMIRK - Systematic Reviewing by Dr Helen Marlborough modified by Marion Kelt, Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

# Databases in health and
life sciences

The main databases used in systematic reviewing are:

Database | Theasaurus used | Duplicates?
CINAHL | CINAHL headings | automatically removed
Medline | MeSH | automatically removed
Proquest Central | Proquest | automatically removed
PsycInfo (in Proquest) | PSycINFO | automatically removed
EMBASE (on Knowledge Network: NHS e-library) | EMtree | no information
MIDIRS | MIDIRS subject headings | not automatically removed, use ..dedup (search number)
Planex (good for Social Work) | Idox | not removed
Web of Knowledge | KeyWords Plus | not removed

If you are following a set search protocol, it may specify which databases you should search. There are many more databases available, they are listed on our library web site. If you are still unsure, consult your librarian.

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SMIRK - Systematic Reviewing by Dr Helen Marlborough modified by Marion Kelt, Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

# Databases for the built
and natural environment

The main databases used in systematic reviewing are:

Database | Theasaurus used
British Standards Online (BSOL) | BSI
Compendex | Compendex
Emerald Engineering Portal | Emerald
IEEE/IEE Electronic Library (IEL) | IEEE
Proquest Central | Proquest
Web of Knowledge | KeyWords Plus

If you are following a set search protocol, it may specify which databases you should search. There are many more databases available, they are listed on our library web site. If you are still unsure, consult your librarian.

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SMIRK - Systematic Reviewing by Dr Helen Marlborough modified by Marion Kelt, Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

# Grey literature

Grey literature is information like theses, reports, conference proceedings, clinical trials, policy documents or guidelines. This can be produced by a wide variety of sources such as national or local government, charities, or academics. It can be hard to find as it may not be indexed in the main databases and sources. This page outlines the main sources in health, but you should always consult your library subject guide for other useful sources. A wider range of general resources is listed on our research pages.

#### Clinical trials

- The National Institute for Health Research (formerly the National Research Register) covers research carried out in England and has a searchable archive which covers UK wide older research
- ClinicalTrials.gov produced by the US National Library of Health. This indexes trials in the US and worldwide.
- CenterWatch as a searchable database of listings of worldwide industry and government-sponsored clinical trials. Sponsors use this service to inform patients and their caregivers about ongoing clinical trial opportunities, which volunteers can then review and inquire about participating in.
- Current Controlled Trials allows users to search, register and share information about randomised controlled trials. Access to all the information on this site is free.
- Trials is an open access, peer-reviewed, online journal from BioMed Central that covers the performance and findings of randomized controlled trials.

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SMIRK - Systematic Reviewing by Dr Helen Marlborough modified by Marion Kelt, Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

# Grey literature 2

#### Search engines

You can find a lot of useful information on the internet, but it can be hard to focus your search and to judge the quality of what you find. Some have an advanced search which helps filter your search results. Look for specialist search engines such as Google Scholar, which searches academic publications.

- For a wide general search use Google advanced search We have some top tips in our finding information section.
- For a search of academic level material use Google scholar advanced search.
- Exalead
- Mednar - a free specialist medical search engine. They have a short guide.

#### Here are some general tips to help you use search engines:

- use the advanced search option
- don’t use truncation
- AND is the default which means that the words you type must all be mentioned, link synonyms using OR
- specify the domains gov, ac or org
- limits:
  - exact phrase (don’t use truncation)
  - with at least one of the words
  - in the title of the article

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SMIRK - Systematic Reviewing by Dr Helen Marlborough modified by Marion Kelt, Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

# Finding grey literature

#### Theses

- DART-Europe - browse and search open-access research theses.
- EthOS - British Library site covering UK PhD theses. Use the advanced search to combine search terms. Searches on Thesis Title, Abstract, Library of Congress Subject Headings and Subject Keyword.
- Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.

#### Conference Proceedings

- Web of Knowledge The default search allows you to combine search terms with ‘And’, ‘Or’, ‘Not’ and ‘SAME’. You can search specifically on ‘Conference’ as well as by topic and title. There is a good help section.

#### Practice Guidelines

- Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) Guidelines
- Turning Research Into Practice (TRIP) covers clinical evidence for clinical practice.
- eGuidelines provides index and summaries of national and European Union clinical guidelines for primary and shared care, sponsored by independent professional bodies includes guidelines released by NICE; commended by the National Health Service (NHS) and summaries of working party guidelines.
- NHS Evidence - National Library of Guidelines is a collection of guidelines for the NHS. It is based on the guidelines produced by NICE and other national agencies. It focuses on guidelines produced in the UK, but where no UK guideline is available, guidelines from other countries are included.
- National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) Guidance covers three main areas: public health, health technologies and clinical practice.
- The NHS Clinical Knowledge Summaries (formerly PRODIGY) are a reliable source of evidence-based information and practical 'know how' about the common conditions managed in primary care. They are aimed at healthcare professionals working in primary and first-contact care.
- SCIE practice guides a free online resource which brings together information, research and current good practice about particular areas of social care.

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SMIRK - Systematic Reviewing by Dr Helen Marlborough modified by Marion Kelt, Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

# Finding grey literature 2

#### Repositories

- OAIster (University of Michigan Digital Library Production Service). Previously difficult to access academic digital resources.
- OpenDOAR - directory of open access repositories.
- Repositories of Primary Sources – more than 5000 websites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other primary sources for researchers.

#### Subject gateways: evaluated information on the internet

- Archives Hub - descriptions of archives in UK universities and colleges.
- UK data service - register befiore use, then login using domain username and password.
- NHS Knowledge Network including JBI COnNECT (Joanna Briggs Institute)

This is the end of our section on systematic reviewing. For more guidance on how to write up the review, contact your supervisor.

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SMIRK - Systematic Reviewing by Dr Helen Marlborough modified by Marion Kelt, Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

# Using the Cochrane
Library

When to use the Cochrane Library
Use it for answering very specific types of questions about the effectiveness of a treatment. It is not useful for general healthcare information such as "Are there any new drugs for asthma?" or for questions about the cause, prognosis, epidemiology or risk factors for an illness. Use other databases such as CINAHL to find this information. Don't use this database to find journal articles as it only indexes reviews!
Some definitions
A systematic review is a review of a clearly formulated question that uses systematic and explicit methods to identify, select and critically appraise relevant research, and to collect and analyse data from the studies that are included in the review.
A randomised controlled trial (RCT) is an experiment in which investigators randomly allocate eligible people into (for example, treatment and control) groups to receive or not to receive one or more interventions that are being compared.
A Meta analysis is a statistical technique for assembling the results of several studies in a review into a single numerical estimate.

How do I log in?
Go to http://www.thecochranelibrary.com/view/0/index.html You don't need to log in, access is free.

How do I search?
Using the Quick search box is the easiest way to search. Enter your terms in the search box in the blue section at the top right of the screen and click Go. You will see a list of results. Click Record to see the full database record. To see the PDF version, click the link at the top left of the screen.

Below the quick search box, there are more search options. If you want to search by MeSH term, click the MeSH search option. Type your subject term into the box and click either the Thesaurus or Go to MeSH trees button. This will display MeSH terms in either a list or tree format. Select your search option using the check boxes, then run the search by clicking the View Results button.

For more complex searches, choose the Advanced Search option. This gives you a search form which allows you to combine search terms using and, or, and not. You can choose which fields to search using the drop down menus. You can choose which section of the Cochrane Library to search and specify the date range. You can also specify whether you wish to search only entries which have been updated or changed in any way. Enter your choices then click the search button.
If you want to search for different forms of a word, use the wildcard symbol (*) when typing in your search term - teen* will find teen, teenager, or teens

How do I combine searches?
Click Search history. This tells you how many searches you have run. Combine them by typing the number into the search box (for example #1 and #3) then click Go.Remember, and narrows a search as the computer finds articles containing both subjects. Or widens a search as the computer finds articles on either subject.

The Search Results displays the number of references in each database within the Cochrane Library. Cochrane Reviews are displayed on the Search Results page.

How do I save or print results?
Select search results by clicking the box beside the titles or the Select all option at the foot of the list. Now click either the Export all Results or Export Selected Citations button. At the next screen select your file type (usually PC) and export format (usually Abstract and citation) then click Go. Insert a USB pen drive. A pop-up window containing the data will appear, use the file menu to either save or print the data. Close the window when you are finished and use the browser's back button to go back tot he results screen.

How do I save to RefWorks?
Save the file of results to the desktop. Log in to RefWorks. Select the References menu from the toolbar and click Import. Use the drop-down menu to select Wiley Interscience from the Import filter menu. Use the Browser button to select the file from your desktop, then click Import to read in the data. Remember to move the references to another folder to store them safely.

How do I log off?
Wiley Inrterscience has no logoff button, just navigate away to another page on your browser or close it down.

Where can I get help?
There are usful hints on the right of the screens. If you have any questions which cannot be answered by this guide please contact your librarian.

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SMIRK - Systematic Reviewing by Dr Helen Marlborough modified by Marion Kelt, Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License