Objective 4b: Keyword Search for Recent Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (optional, search 3)

The search for previously published meta-analyses and systematic review must retrieve indexed and unindexed:

• systematic reviews and
• meta-analyses.

You may choose to also search for:

• guidelines and
• consensus statements,

____________________________

Why run this search?

The assignment guidelines allow you to consider findings of recent meta-analyses.  Also authors of formulary monographs are expected to be aware of the recommendations made in these previous publications.  You may wish to include previously published guidelines and consensus statements because Dr. Marx, and her colleagues may ask how group findings compare to existing practice guidelines.

____________________________

Prepare for the search

This next search is a search for indexed and unindexed records.

• If you’re looking at the PubMed results page, go to the PubMed search box , find and remove the — NOT MEDLINE[sb] — from the end of your search strategy.
• If you’re on the “Advanced” search page, click on the  …  in the “Actions” column to add your most recent search (the search ending in NOT MEDLINE[sb]) to the query box.  Then remove the – NOT MEDLINE[sb]

Click the “Search” button so that you are again looking at indexed and unindexed records.

____________________________

Run the search

• Either
  • use the “Article type” filters to select “Systematic Review”, “Meta-analysis”, and, if you wish, “Consensus Development Conference”, “Consensus Development Conference, NIH, Guideline”, and “Practice Guideline”.

or

• • click on UNMC’s custom “systematic rev.+ meta-analyses + guidelines” filter. (This is near the top of the “Filter” column)

• Both the “systematic review” “Article Type” filter and the custom UNMC filter find indexed and unindexed guidelines, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses.  Since keywords are included in these filters, some of the results will not be the relevant publication type, but will rather talk about the relevant publication type.

____________________________

Document Your Search

If you used “Article type” filters, you can simply copy the search from the “Advanced” page as for search 1 and 2.

However, custom filters created by an institution like UNMC will not show up on the “Advanced” search page.  If you used the custom filter:

• Copy the search strategy from the PubMed search box.
• Paste it under heading “4. Keyword search for indexed and unindexed PubMed records for systemic reviews”
• Under the pasted strategy, type — Applied : “systematic rev _ Meta-analyses + guidelines” filter