Errors in search strategies used in systematic reviews and their effects on information retrieval.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Errors in search strategies negatively affect the quality and validity of systematic reviews. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate searches performed in MEDLINE/PubMed to identify errors and determine their effects on information retrieval.

Methods

A PubMed search was conducted using the systematic review filter to identify articles that were published in January of 2018. Systematic reviews or meta-analyses were selected from a systematic search for literature containing reproducible and explicit search strategies in MEDLINE/PubMed. Data were extracted from these studies related to ten types of errors and to the terms and phrases search modes.

Results

The study included 137 systematic reviews in which the number of search strategies containin

SUBMITTER: Salvador-Olivan JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6466507 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature