Inadequate diversity of information resources searched in US-affiliated systematic reviews and meta-analyses: 2005-2016.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses (SRMAs) rely upon comprehensive searches into diverse resources that catalog primary studies. However, since what constitutes a comprehensive search is unclear, we examined trends in databases searched from 2005-2016, surrounding the publication of search guidelines in 2013, and associations between resources searched and evidence of publication bias in SRMAs involving human subjects.

Study design

To ensure comparability of included SRMAs over the 12 years in the face of a near 100-fold increase of international SRMAs (mainly genetic studies from China) during this period, we focused on USA-affiliated SRMAs, manually reviewing 100 randomly selected SRMAs from those published in each year. After excluding articles (mainly for ina

SUBMITTER: Pradhan R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6250602 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature