A search plan would comprise of the following steps:
For detailed information on these topics, you can refer to the boxes on the right of this page for more information.
The aim of a systematic search is to identify all relevant studies on any given topic. Therefore, the search strategy of a systematic review should be rigorously developed such that it is highly sensitive in order to find all these potential relevant articles. According to the Cochrane Handbook, sensitivity is defined as, "the number of relevant reports identified, divided by the total number of relevant reports in existence." A search with high sensitivity should therefore retrieve all relevant studies on a topic. You may likely end up with a large amount of references, out of which a high percentage will be irrelevant.
Before you create a search strategy, it is a good idea to see what has already been done i.e. if there are published reviews or on-going reviews on the topic, or if sufficient studies have been conducted on the topic. The methods sections of reviews and any appended search strategies can be useful.
You are expected to comply with University policies and guidelines namely, Appropriate Use of Information Resources Policy, IT Usage Policy and Social Media Policy. Users will be personally liable for any infringement of Copyright and Licensing laws. Unless otherwise stated, all guide content is licensed by CC BY-NC 4.0.