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--- wiki:autolit:search:optimize [2022/01/26 18:22]
tiffany [British versus American Spellings]
+++ wiki:autolit:search:optimize [2023/06/29 16:07] (current)
kevinkallmes
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-===== Search Optimization =====
+====== Conducting Your Search ======
-Familiarize yourself with the following techniques to optimize your search strategy and efficiently capture all relevant articles. A well-designed search term is one that maximizes the proportion of retrieved articles that are relevant to your particular project while minimizing the number of relevant articles that are //not //captured by the search.
+//“A comprehensive search forms the foundation of any systematic review.” <sup>1</sup>  //
+==== PICO-based Research Question construction ====
+See this short video on Research Question structure following conventions for clinical reviews:
+{{youtube>FX80rtb-bKE}}
 ----
+==== Creating Search Terms based on PICO ====
+The best place to start when creating search terms is with the PICO (**P**opulation, **I**ntervention, **C**ontrol, and **O**utcome) elements identified during the search [[:wiki:guide:plan|planning]].
+^PICO Element^Search Term Examples|
+|Population|Disease, medical condition, type of fracture, age, sex|
+|Intervention|Device class or name, drug class or name, surgical or medical|
+|Control|Comparator interventions, comparative study type|
+|Outcome<sup>*</sup>  |Scoring systems, pain, mortality|
+----
 ==== Boolean Operators ====
+__**Boolean operators**__  AND, OR, NOT can be used to specify the search further
+  * **__AND__**  can be used to narrow your results and tell the database that ALL search terms must be present in the resulting records
+  * **__OR__**  can be used to connect two or more similar concepts and broaden your results, telling the database that ANY of your search terms can be present in the resulting records
+  * **__NOT__**  can be used to exclude words from your search and narrow your search, telling the database to ignore concepts that may be implied by your search terms
 PubMed uses the Boolean operators "**AND**", "**OR**", and "**NOT**" to link elements in a search term.
@@ Line 13: / Line 36: @@
   * The search term "Atrial fibrillation **OR **stroke risk" will return any article associated with either the first element (atrial fibrillation) //or //the second element (stroke risk). Therefore, this search will return more articles than the search term in the first bullet.{{  :wiki:autolit:search:screenshot2021-10-06at12.44.53am.png?nolink&300x130  }}
-  * The search term "Atrial fibrillation **NOT**  paroxysmal" will return articles associated with the first element (atrial fibrillation), but will //not //return articles associated with the second element (paroxysmal); i.e., this search should have a lower likelihood of capturing articles about paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, and a higher likelihood of retrieving articles about persistent and long-term persistent atrial fibrillation.
+  * The search term "Atrial fibrillation **NOT**  paroxysmal" will return articles associated with the first element (atrial fibrillation), but will //not //return articles associated with the second element (paroxysmal); Consequently, this search should have a lower likelihood of capturing articles about paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, and a higher likelihood of retrieving articles about persistent and long-term persistent atrial fibrillation.
 //Tip: Use parentheses to stack booleans for even more precise searches. For example, "(Atrial fibrillation NOT paroxysmal) AND stroke risk".//
 ----
 ==== Quotation Marks ====
@@ Line 29: / Line 51: @@
   * **"CFTR gene"**  AND cystic fibrosis{{  :wiki:autolit:search:screenshot2021-10-06at12.56.58am.png?nolink&300x130  }}
-//Tip: This is a useful tool to "weed out" irrelevant results, but researchers should be cautious. If there are multiple synonyms or variations used to describe the same disease state, outcome, or intervention, it is wise to avoid quotation marks so that the search not does not exclude potentially relevant articles.//
+//Tip: Although this is a useful tool to "weed out" irrelevant results, researchers should be cautious. If there are multiple synonyms or variations used to describe the same disease state, outcome, or intervention, it is wise to avoid quotation marks so that the search not does not exclude potentially relevant articles.//
 ----
 ==== Truncation ====
@@ Line 42: / Line 63: @@
 {{  :wiki:autolit:search:screenshot2021-10-06at1.30.47am.png?nolink&300x130  }}
-  * However, the search "monozygotic twin AND **embryo develop***" returns 452 results, since this search also includes "embryo developmental", "embryo developing", "embryo developed", etc.
+  * However, the search "monozygotic twin AND **embryo develop***" returns 452 results, since this search also includes "embryo developmental," "embryo developing," "embryo developed," etc.
 {{  :wiki:autolit:search:screenshot2021-10-06at1.31.03am.png?nolink&300x130  }}
 ----
 ==== Language ====
@@ Line 56: / Line 76: @@
 ----
 ==== Publication Date ====
@@ Line 65: / Line 84: @@
 ----
 ==== Study Design ====
-You can filter for articles published with certain study designs by including **(studydesign[Filter])** in the search term. For example, you could search:
+You can filter for articles published with certain study designs by including **(studydesign[Filter])** in the search term. For example, you could search for the following:
    * Total hip arthroplasty AND** (clinicalstudy[Filter]) **
-//Tip: You can include a long string of elegible study types by linking them with Boolean operators and parentheses. For example, you could search "Total hip arthroplasty AND (clinicalstudy[Filter] OR clinicaltrial[Filter] OR comparativestudy[Filter] OR controlledclinicaltrial[Filter] OR randomizedcontrolledtrial[Filter])".//
+//Tip: You can include a long string of eligible study types by linking them with Boolean operators and parentheses. For example, you could search "Total hip arthroplasty AND (clinicalstudy[Filter] OR clinicaltrial[Filter] OR comparativestudy[Filter] OR controlledclinicaltrial[Filter] OR randomizedcontrolledtrial[Filter])".//
 ----
 ==== MESH Keywords ====
@@ Line 87: / Line 104: @@
 //Tip: MeSH stands for Medical Subject Headings and is an indexing feature to facilitate article identification. More information about MeSH keywords can be found [[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ijcp.12767|here]].//
+<WRAP center round important 60%>
+Including only MeSH search terms will exclude citations that are not tagged with MeSH terms (citations that are not in Medline). MeSH terms also do not translate directly across databases. Use with caution!
+</WRAP>
 ----
 ==== British versus American Spellings ====
-A thorough search will include both British and American spellings. You will want to search for "randomized" trials and "randomised" trials. You will want to look at "pediatric" populations and "paediatric" populations. Here is a guide that compares British and American spellings: {{https://blog.collinsdictionary.com/language-lovers/9-spelling-differences-between-british-and-american-english/|9 Spelling Differences Between British and American English}}
+A thorough search must include both British and American spellings of all terms. You will want to search for "randomized" trials and "randomised" trials. You will want to look at "pediatric" populations and "paediatric" populations. Here is a guide that compares British and American spellings: {{https://blog.collinsdictionary.com/language-lovers/9-spelling-differences-between-british-and-american-english/|9 Spelling Differences Between British and American English}}
+----
+==== Number of records & "when to stop" ====
+The number of records that your search will return is displayed on the Search Modal; remember that you will need to screen all records that return from your search, so narrow your query until it returns an acceptable number! A good rule of thumb is that **200-500 records** is the maximum range for a first/preliminary search, and then subsequent searches should be added until your new searches return no includable records and a high number of duplicates.
+If the expected number of records differs greatly from your expectations, it may be because of an error in your query construction.
-— //[[alexmebane@supedit.com|Alex Mebane]] 2021/10/05 21:51//—

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