I was going to save this for tomorrow but I just can't.
A thread.
#Reporting #Searching #SystematicReview
Someone asked me recently if I could share any examples of #SysRev that had GOOD methods sections.
🧵🧵🧵
I said, "They're few and far between but usually Cochrane #SysRevs have a well-reported methods section."
However, when I went to look, I couldn't find any great examples. They were all kinda iffy. I was like
Then, this article practically fell in my lap this weekend. It was tweeted from a #COVID19 literature account.
Take a look at that methods section. It's almost glowing. It may as well have a halo around it.
bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.11…
And remember, I'm talking about reporting the search, not the whole review, because I don't have time for that.
They've reported databases AND platforms, correctly!
They described their process transparently!
They described their limits, and included the searches (ALL OF THEM) in a supplementary file.
Not only that, but they're pretty darn good!
They report numbers PER DATABASE and then TOTAL records in the #PRISMA Flow Diagram.
They didn't say whether the search was peer reviewed, which is a new item on the @PRISMASearch, but I know this one's easy to miss. I also don't see anything about ref list searching.
One thing confuses me, and it's this sentence:
"The search strategy was subsequently piloted using Medline and refined until all key papers identified in the scoping review were retrieved from the first 100 search results."
⬆️⬆️⬆️
Is that a note to the search's sensitivity? You can't control whether the key articles come back in the first 100 results or not....so what does that mean⁉️⁉️⁉️
And one thing makes me very very sad. How sad?
This sad:
A #medlibs was clearly involved -- the authors even mentioned it in the methods section.
The searches are transparent, reproducible, etc. etc. But I don't see a medical librarian in the list of authors, and I don't see one acknowledged.
Somebody correct me if I'm mistaken, or if I'm reading this wrong?
#medlibs make significant contributions to a #SysRev, and this (seemingly anonymous?) one did for sure.
ICMJE notes authorship as a "significant contribution."
icmje.org/recommendation…
Anyway, that's my example. I'll try to share more. I also encourage you to share when you find a #Search #Methods section that is done well. We all need to see it!
/bye
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.