Why do a literature search?

Literature searches play a fundamental role in evidence-based practice, research and continuous improvement. Learn how to conduct an effective search, which tools you'll need and further library support.

HNELHD staff engage in many activities that require an effective search for relevant, high-quality literature, including:

• Answering complex clinical queries for patient care
• Involvement in research projects
• Writing for publication
• Updating or developing clinical procedures or guidelines
• Preparing for a presentation or education session
• Planning service improvements
• Completing advanced training or fellowship projects
• Undertaking health technology assessments (HTAs)

Do you need support?

The Library offers a wide range of support for searching the literature, from webinars to online and face-to-face training for individuals and groups.

• Library training request
• Literature search request
• Contact HNELHD Research Office

Useful resources

• CIAP EBP Learning Modules
• UoN – Researcher skills toolkit

Medline Vs PubMed

It is important to be aware that the content in PubMed is not always high quality and includes papers that have not completed the peer-review process. We strongly recommend using Medline rather than PubMed for the following reasons:

1. PubMed will return more results than Medline because it includes ahead of print and non-peer-reviewed articles
2. A full database search in PubMed creates automatic mappings that expand the focus of the search. Medline controls these mappings and therefore the scope of your search.
3. PubMed includes PubMed Central papers which are full-text articles deposited to promote open access.

For support contact the Library or watch this PubMed overview.

Search results can be exported from all major databases. Exporting results is a key step in managing your results and preparing for later stages of your research, such as screening and writing. 

Choosing a file format

Most databases will let you export results in a variety of file formats. Before selecting a file format consider the following

• Reference Management – be sure to export your results in a format compatible with your preferred reference manager
• Next steps in your research – to screen your results in Covidence you will need to import them as either an Endnote XML file or RIS text file

How to export

OVID platform (Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, Emcare). For other databases consult the CIAP User Guides or contact the Library.

EndNote at HNELHD

For HNELHD staff without a UoN affiliation or affiliation with other institutions with EndNote license options use EndNote Online/EndNoteWeb, available at myendnoteweb.com. For further information and training please visit the library training page. 

EndNote for UoN Conjoints and Affiliates

Download EndNote from the University's software download site to ensure your EndNote is within the UoN subscription. For further information refer to EndNote 21: Getting started Library Guide

Other EndNote training resources are available from Clarivate. 

A systematic review attempts to collate all the empirical evidence that fits pre-specified eligibility criteria in order to answer a specific research question. It uses explicit, systematic methods that are selected with a view to minimizing bias, thus providing more reliable findings from which conclusions can be drawn and decisions made.

What are systematic reviews? (Cochrane)

 

Key characteristics of a systematic review

• the a priori specification of a research question
• a clearly stated set of objectives with pre-defined eligibility criteria for studies
• an explicit, reproducible methodology
• a systematic search that attempts to identify all studies that would meet the eligibility criteria
• an assessment of the validity of the findings of the included studies, for example through the assessment of risk of bias
• a systematic presentation, and synthesis, of the characteristics and findings of the included studies

They are usually considered to be the highest level of evidence in evidence-based practice.

Librarian involvement in systematic reviews is a practice recommendation by the Institute of Medicine and leading sources of evidence-based information including Cochrane and the Joanna Briggs Institute.

As part of your systematic review project team, HNE Health librarians

• Design a comprehensive search strategy that complies with best practices and current systematic review standards
• Translate search strategies across multiple resources
• Provide search results using citation management software, such as EndNote
• Write the complete search methodology that can be included in the final systematic review manuscript according to PRISMA guideline
• Provide the PRISMA flow diagram

Contact us to request a consultation. 

Education

Systematic Review Course (HETI and HNE Health Libraries). 10 sessions step participants through the process of conducting a systematic review. Intended for clinician and health service researchers but suitable for higher degree students.

UoN Systematic Review Guide

Tools for systematic reviews

There are free and subscription-based tools that support the systematic review process.

 Catchii is a free systematic review (SR) screening tool designed to deliver an efficient and user-friendly experience when working with large datasets of scientific literature. It supports all key stages of the SR process, from duplicate detection to generating PRISMA flowcharts for publication.

 Available to UoN Conjoint and affiliate staff and UoN students. Doing a higher degree? Check with your education provider to see if Covidence is available to you. 

  Abstrackr is a free, open-source tool for facilitating the citation screening process. Upload your abstracts, invite reviewers, and get to screening.

  Rayyan is an online tool that can be used for screening and coding of studies in a systematic review. It uses tagging and filtering to code and organise references. Limited access is available for free, subscription pricing is available here

  Available to UoN Conjoint and Affiliate staff and UoN students. Doing a higher degree? Check with your education provider to see if JBI SUMARI is available to you.

 Systematic Review Accelerator (SRA) is a suite of automation tools developed by the Institute for Evidence-Based Healthcare at Bond University. The SRA tools aim to make literature review and synthesis processes faster while maintaining and enhancing quality. The suite includes tools that can help with designing search strategies, title and abstract screening, citation tracking, and writing drafts for methods and result sections. The SRA tools are free and include extensive help pages.

 RevMan is the software used for preparing and maintaining Cochrane Reviews. It is now available for non-Cochrane reviews. RevMan facilitates preparation of protocols and full reviews. RevMan is available on subscription.

AI tools for reviews

  AI specialty guide

 Using AI-powered tools for literature reviews – Macquarie University LibGuide

 Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods in evidence synthesis: Learning Live webinar series

Useful resources

• Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions
• JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis - 2024
• Finding What Works in Health Care: Standards for Systematic Reviews - National Academies
• Equator Network
• PRISMA

Why is grey literature important?

Grey literature reduces publication bias – where studies with significant results are overrepresented in scholarly publications – by providing a broader perspective. For this reason it is particularly important to consider grey literature when:

• Developing or reviewing a clinical guideline
• Conducting a systematic review or meta-analysis

Grey literature can be a good source of raw data expanding on the primary information available for your research.

Grey literature is useful for locating the latest information from industry and government sources. It can be published more quickly than other information sources as it is not usually subject to peer-review processes.

GreyNet is a grey literature database. Grey Guide is a repository and portal to good practices and resources in grey literature.

 Introduction to grey literature from Western University

 

More on grey literature searching

• Cochrane Handbook of Systematic Reviews of Interventions
•  US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
•  Grey Matters: A Practical Tool for Searching Health-related Grey Literature

Useful resources

• Systematic review guide: Grey literature sources – UoN Library