Searching for articles for your literature review – example using PubMed
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Searching for articles for your literature review – example using PubMed Katrina Dalziel [email protected]
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Searching for articles for your literature review – example using PubMed. Katrina Dalziel [email protected]. Some basic advice Choose a medical topic of real interest to you Be aware that for some subjects the pool of published primary research is small - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Some basic advice
Choose a medical topic of real interest to you
Be aware that for some subjects the pool of published primary research is small
Do some ‘quick & dirty’ searches to identify trends, language and vocabulary used for your topic
Conceptual breakdown of the research question
Identify search terms
Boolean operators AND/OR/NOT
Truncation
How are searches constructed
I’m interested in people using hypnosis to stop smoking.
Maybe younger people Does it work?
Is hypnosis effective in reducing smoking levels in teenagers?
Topic into research question
Within concepts◦Think about search terms which may be in
the title, abstract or subject headings of an article
◦Synonyms◦Related terms◦Consider more general/specific terms◦Consider different spellings
e.g.Pre-hospital/”out of hospital”/roadside/emergency/ out-of-hospital/ambulance
Identifying search terms
Concept A – Key terms
Concept B –Key terms
Concept C – Key terms
Any more concepts or issues to capture?
HypnosisHypnosesHypnotismHypnotherapyAutohypnosis
Smoking TobaccoNicotineCigarettes
TeenagersAdolescentsJuvenilesYouthsYoung peopleYoung person
‘Is hypnosis effective in reducing smoking levels in teenagers?’ – Key word search
Concept A – Key terms
Concept B –Key terms
Concept C – Key terms
Any more concepts or issues to capture?
Hypnosis Smoking
Tobacco
Nicotine
Smoking cessation?
Prevention & Control subheading?
Adolescent
‘Is hypnosis effective in reducing smoking levels in teenagers?’ – MeSH Subject headings & subheadings
AND – combines 2 different concepts to make results smaller
OR – combines similar search terms within one concept to make results bigger
NOT – excludes terms or concepts BUT use with care – may exclude relevant items
Combining search concepts
Truncation symbol in most databases is the asterisk *
e.g. hypnotherap* would pick up hypnotherapy or hypnotherapies
Assess which terms could benefit from truncation
Truncation
Explore and test your terms and truncation!
Too many records?Remove the least helpful termsAdd another concept
Not many records?Explore effect of removing a conceptAdd in some broader terms to concepts in useThere may be only be a small literature
More concepts usually produces fewer resultsFewer concepts usually produces more results
Adapting your search
Hypnosis [mh] OR hypnosis [tiab] OR hypnoses [tiab] OR hypnotism [tiab] OR hypnotherp* [tiab] OR authhypnos* [tiab]
Smoking [mh] OR tobacco [mh] OR nicotine [mh: noexp] OR smok* [tiab] OR tobacco [tiab] OR nicotine [tiab] OR cigarette* [tiab]
Adolescent [mh] OR teenage* [tiab] OR adolescen* [tiab] OR juvenile* [tiab] OR youth* [tiab] OR “young people” [tiab] OR “young person*” [tiab]
[tiab] = title/abstract [mh] = major heading
Find all PubMed search tags at: http://tinyurl.com/ak2jt9z
Sample PubMed strategy
Is it of interest? Why was it done? How was it done? What has it found? What are the implications? What else is of interest?
Crombie, I. K. (1996). The pocket guide to critical appraisal. London: BMJ Publishing.
Critical Appraisal of the articles
Several available. Best known are;
CASP
CEBM
Critical Appraisal checklists
Research questions need to be broken down into concepts
Combine concepts using AND Identify search terms Within concepts link search terms using OR Use appropriate search tools All searches are tradeoffs There is rarely a single ‘right’ search Appraise the evidence you find Ask a Librarian! [email protected]
Summary
