Systematic Reviews

A systematic review's goal is to retrieve all literature is are relevant to your research question. You do this by searching in scholarly databases for articles and grey literature. Because SR searches can be quite extensive and yield a large numbers of results, it can be helpful to carefully craft your search in order to not only obtain the best possible results, but to aid in making the screening process manageable. By using advanced search techniques, you will have richer and more relevant results.

• It is also important to document your search strategy and save search results as it will be needed as part of your manuscript.
• The number and type of databases searched ultimately depends on your research topic.
• Most health science related Systematic Reviews search in at least 3 different databases, including PubMed, Cochrane Library and Embase. Use our Health Sciences Guide for a listing of suggested databases or search within our Databases A to Z list for a full listing of all available resources through Drexel University Libraries.

Look at the following tabs for search techniques which can be applied to the majority of Drexel University Libraries databases.