Carrie Price Profile picture
Sep 6, 2022 14 tweets 7 min read Read on X
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! A literature search of Medl...
They described their process transparently! Search strategy development...
They described their limits, and included the searches (ALL OF THEM) in a supplementary file.

Not only that, but they're pretty darn good! Search strategy in the supp...
They report numbers PER DATABASE and then TOTAL records in the #PRISMA Flow Diagram. numbers per database
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

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More from @carrieprice78

May 30, 2023
I decided I could grumpy tweet disappointing systematic review methods or I could do something different today.

Let's try something different. Let's take you to #SearchingSchool.

A 🧵
There's this called Google where you can search for shit so that you understand it better.

One of the things you might do when embarking on a #systematicreview is, well, first, consult with a librarian, but also try to understand some resources.

paperpile.com/g/academic-res…
Read 16 tweets
Feb 4, 2022
My partner sent me this article last night.

"Please critically appraise it!" he said.

"I'm not great at critical appraisal, I just like to look at the search...."

I'll start with the search, anyway.

A thread 🧵🧵🧵

sites.krieger.jhu.edu/iae/files/2022… A LITERATURE REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS  OF THE EFFECTS OF LOC
There is so much to say about this article. This pre-print.

Scanned. They SCANNED Google Scholar and Scopus. We all know about the kinds of stuff one can find in Google Scholar.

What method did they use to scan it? We'll never know. The studies we reviewed were identified by scanning Google S
Three economists wrote a paper about COVID-19 mortality and didn't think to look in PubMed. Or consult an information specialist.

1,360 search terms? Where are they? They're not anywhere in this paper.

They also limited to English for a global pandemic -- doesn't make sense.
Read 14 tweets
Feb 2, 2022
Here's a #SearchAndRescue tip of the day!

Are you putting together a #SystematicReview search?

If you use a subject heading (aka controlled vocabulary, thesaurus term), use the same term as a keyword too.

It seems redundant, but it's not. Let's look at an example:
I looked up the term Guillain-Barre Syndrome in the MeSH database, which is MEDLINE's controlled vocabulary:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/
There's a term for Guillain-Barre Syndrome, here, take a look:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/68020275
Read 10 tweets
Jul 17, 2020
I just have a little Friday favor to ask of all would-be authors hoping to embark on a #SystematicReview.

Before you start, could you please read about #SysRev?

It will help you know what you're getting yourself into.

Thread: Required Reading for #SysRev would-be authors.
There are so many resources out there, like the Cochrane Handbook:

training.cochrane.org/handbook/curre…

This can apply to any SR, need not be a Cochrane SR.
Same for the MECIR Standards:

methods.cochrane.org/methodological…
Read 10 tweets
May 29, 2020
This is becoming my default review template (#SysRev or otherwise) -- lots of links because I want people to have all the resources at their fingertips. You can't say I didn't warn you. #systematicreview #knowbeforeyougo
Well howdy do, it's Friday, let me just give you those links, eh?

PRISMA Statement -- a reporting guideline and checklist for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses:

prisma-statement.org

Yes I said GUIDELINE DON'T WE ALL CHANGE with knowledge
PRISMA-P Extension and Protocol Guidance:

prisma-statement.org/Protocols/Prot…

Checklist for Protocols, which you should probably register on...
Read 7 tweets

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