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A checklist to assess database‐hosting platforms for designing and running searches for systematic reviews
Author(s) -
Bethel Alison,
Rogers Morwenna
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
health information and libraries journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.779
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1471-1842
pISSN - 1471-1834
DOI - 10.1111/hir.12054
Subject(s) - checklist , computer science , systematic review , purchasing , work (physics) , host (biology) , database , world wide web , medline , data science , psychology , operations management , engineering , mechanical engineering , ecology , political science , law , cognitive psychology , biology
Background Systematic reviews require literature searches that are precise, sensitive and often complex. Database‐hosting platforms need to facilitate this type of searching in order to minimise errors and the risk of bias in the results. Objectives The main objective of the study was to create a generic checklist of criteria to assess the ability of host platforms to cope with complex searching, for example, for systematic reviews, and to test the checklist against three host platforms ( EBSCO host, Ovid SP and ProQuest). Method The checklist was developed as usual review work was carried out and through discussion between the two authors. Attributes on the checklist were designated as ‘desirable’ or ‘essential’. The authors tested the checklist independently against three host platforms and graded their performance from 1 (insufficient) to 3 (performs well). Results Fifty‐five desirable or essential attributes were identified for the checklist. None of the platforms performed well for all of the attributes on the checklist. Conclusions Not all database‐hosting platforms are designed for complex searching. Librarians and other decision‐makers who work in health research settings need to be aware of the different limitations of host platforms for complex searching when they are making purchasing decisions or training others.