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Surveying the traumatic stress literature: The effective use of bibliographic databases in preparing reviews and meta‐analyses
Author(s) -
Lerner Fred,
Hamblen Jessica L.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1002/jts.20580
Subject(s) - vocabulary , systematic review , medline , controlled vocabulary , keyword search , meta analysis , information retrieval , computer science , selection (genetic algorithm) , bibliographic database , grey literature , psychology , data science , medicine , artificial intelligence , political science , linguistics , philosophy , law
The value of a systematic review or meta‐analysis depends upon the care with which it is designed and conducted. A major factor in this is the literature search that identifies the articles to be reviewed. Careful selection of bibliographic databases and the use of well‐designed search strategies based on the controlled vocabularies contained in published thesauri are essential to ensure retrieval of all relevant articles. This commentary offers suggestions for identifying the literature to be searched, designing a suitable search strategy, using a controlled vocabulary, and describing the bibliographic methodology underlying a systematic review or meta‐analysis.