Evaluation of a new method for librarian-mediated literature searches for systematic reviews.

ABSTRACT: To evaluate and validate the time of completion and results of a new method of searching for systematic reviews, the exhaustive search method (ESM), using a pragmatic comparison.

Methods

Single-line search strategies were prepared in a text document. Term completeness was ensured with a novel optimization technique. Macros in MS Word converted the syntaxes between databases and interfaces almost automatically. We compared search characteristics, such as number of search terms and databases, and outcomes, such as number of included and retrieved references and precision, from ESM searches and other Dutch academic hospitals identified by searching PubMed for systematic reviews published between 2014 and 2016. We compared time to perform the ESM with a secondary comparator of recorded

SUBMITTER: Bramer WM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5920798 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature