A guide prepared by Ms. S. Nalbandian targeted to outline some of the common types of reviews including literature, systematic, and scoping reviews, and lists some ways by which University Librarians can assist in conducting such reviews.
To exclude animal studies while doing a systematic review, different databases require different search strategies. The below show these strategies according to the database used:
Medline - OVID: the below two lines work well to exclude animal studies in Medline, use either one:
FinalResult NOT (Animals/ NOT (Animals/ AND Humans/))
FinalResult NOT (exp animals/ not humans.sh.)
PubMed: below search strategy in PubMed will exclude animal studies from the final result:
FinalResult NOT ("Animals"[Mesh] NOT ("Animals"[Mesh] AND "Humans"[Mesh]))
OVID Embase:
FinalResult NOT ((exp animal/ or nonhuman/) NOT exp human/)
Embase.com:
FinalResult NOT ([animals]/lim NOT [humans]/lim)
To get PubMed records not in Medline:
FinalResult NOT medline [sb]
Note: since there can be a slight time lag in getting from PubMed to Medline, it may also be worth searching PubMed for anything added in the past two or three days.
After running a search strategy on resources such as Medline/Pubmed, use any of below validated filters/hedges (developed to balance precision and recall) to limit search to RCT, Systematic Reviews, etc...
See also:
Harvard search filters for systematic reviews
University of Alberta Subject Filters created a number of subject filters such as pediatrics, geriatrics, cancer, religion, end-of-life, social media, telehealth etc...
Topic search filters: a systematic scoping review. Raechel A. et al. Health Information & Libraries Journal 36(1):4-40, First Published 21 December 2018
Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC) filter from Cochrane
This is because in most cases, such limits result in missing relevant studies due to 1) large variety of terms used to describe study types 2) many authors never mention methodologies in title/abstract 3) inconsistent indexing in particularly for non-randomized designs.
If retrieved results are unmanageable and you need a methodology filter, use validated filters that have been tested against gold-standard sets.
Medline OVID filter from Cochrane - Max Sensitivity:
((randomized controlled trial.pt. or controlled clinical trial.pt. or randomized.ab. or placebo.ab. or drug therapy.fs. or randomly.ab. or trial.ab. or groups.ab.) not (exp animals/ not humans.sh.))
Medline OVID filter from Cochrane - Max specificity:
((randomized controlled trial.pt. or controlled clinical trial.pt. or randomized.ab. or placebo.ab. or clinical trials as topic.sh. or randomly.ab. or trial.ti.) not (exp animals/ not humans.sh.))
PubMed filter from Cochrane- Max Sensitivity:
(randomized controlled trial [pt] OR controlled clinical trial [pt] OR randomized [tiab] OR placebo [tiab] OR drug therapy [sh] OR randomly [tiab] OR trial [tiab] OR groups [tiab]) NOT (animals [mh] NOT humans [mh])
PubMed filter from Cochrane - Max Specificity:
(randomized controlled trial[pt] OR controlled clinical trial[pt] OR randomized[tiab] OR placebo[tiab] OR clinical trials as topic[mesh:noexp] OR randomly[tiab] OR trial[ti]) NOT (animals [mh] NOT (humans [mh] AND animals[mh]))
EMBASE.com filter from Cochrane:
'crossover procedure':de OR 'double-blind procedure':de OR 'randomized controlled trial':de OR 'single-blind procedure':de OR (random* OR factorial* OR crossover* OR cross NEXT/1 over* OR placebo* OR doubl* NEAR/1 blind* OR singl* NEAR/1 blind* OR assign* OR allocat* OR volunteer*):de,ab,ti
EMBASE.com filter from SIGN:
'clinical trial'/de OR 'randomized controlled trial'/de OR 'randomization'/de OR 'single blind procedure'/de OR 'double blind procedure'/de OR 'crossover procedure'/de OR 'placebo'/de OR 'prospective study'/de OR 'randomi?ed controlled' NEXT/1 trial* OR rct OR 'randomly allocated' OR 'allocated randomly' OR 'random allocation' OR allocated NEAR/2 random OR single NEXT/1 blind* OR double NEXT/1 blind* OR (treble OR triple) NEAR/1 blind* OR placebo*
CINAHL filter from SIGN:
TX allocat* random* OR (MH "Quantitative Studies") OR (MH "Placebos") OR TX placebo* OR TX random* allocat* OR (MH "Random Assignment") OR TX randomi* control* trial* OR TX ( (singl* n1 blind*) OR (singl* n1 mask*) ) OR TX ( (doubl* n1 blind*) OR (doubl* n1 mask*) ) OR TX ( (tripl* n1 blind*) OR (tripl* n1 mask*) ) OR TX ( (trebl* n1 blind*) OR (trebl* n1 mask*) ) OR TX clinic* n1 trial* OR PT Clinical trial OR (MH "Clinical Trials+")
PsycINFO filter from ProQuest:
SU.EXACT("Treatment Effectiveness Evaluation") OR SU.EXACT.EXPLODE("Treatment Outcomes") OR SU.EXACT("Placebo") OR SU.EXACT("Followup Studies") OR placebo* OR random* OR "comparative stud*" OR clinical NEAR/3 trial* OR research NEAR/3 design OR evaluat* NEAR/3 stud* OR prospectiv* NEAR/3 stud* OR (singl* OR doubl* OR trebl* OR tripl*) NEAR/3 (blind* OR mask*)
Web Of Science (WoS) filter from University of Alberta - Not Validated:
TS= clinical trial* OR TS=research design OR TS=comparative stud* OR TS=evaluation stud* OR TS=controlled trial* OR TS=follow-up stud* OR TS=prospective stud* OR TS=random* OR TS=placebo* OR TS=(single blind*) OR TS=(double blind*)
SCOPUS filter from Children's Mercy Kansas City, copy/paste into 'advanced search':
TITLE-ABS-KEY((clinic* w/1 trial*) OR (randomi* w/1 control*) OR (randomi* w/2 trial*) OR (random* w/1 assign*) OR (random* w/1 allocat*) OR (control* w/1 clinic*) OR (control* w/1 trial) OR placebo* OR (Quantitat* w/1 Stud*) OR (control* w/1 stud*) OR (randomi* w/1 stud*) OR (singl* w/1 blind*) or (singl* w/1 mask*) OR (doubl* w/1 blind*) OR (doubl* w/1 mask*) OR (tripl* w/1 blind*) OR (tripl* w/1 mask*) OR (trebl* w/1 blind*) OR (trebl* w/1 mask*)) AND NOT (SRCTYPE(b) OR SRCTYPE(k) OR SRCTYPE(p) OR SRCTYPE(r) OR SRCTYPE(d) OR DOCTYPE(ab) OR DOCTYPE(bk) OR DOCTYPE(ch) OR DOCTYPE(bz) OR DOCTYPE(cr) OR DOCTYPE(ed) OR DOCTYPE(er) OR DOCTYPE(le) OR DOCTYPE(no) OR DOCTYPE(pr) OR DOCTYPE(rp) OR DOCTYPE(re) OR DOCTYPE(sh))
SCOPUS filter from National University of Singapore:
( INDEXTERMS ( "clinical trials" OR "clinical trials as a topic" OR "randomized controlled trial" OR "Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic" OR "controlled clinical trial" OR "Controlled Clinical Trials" OR "random allocation" OR "Double-Blind Method" OR "Single-Blind Method" OR "Cross-Over Studies" OR "Placebos" OR "multicenter study" OR "double blind procedure" OR "single blind procedure" OR "crossover procedure" OR "clinical trial" OR "controlled study" OR "randomization" OR "placebo" ) ) OR ( TITLE-ABS-KEY ( ( "clinical trials" OR "clinical trials as a topic" OR "randomized controlled trial" OR "Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic" OR "controlled clinical trial" OR "Controlled Clinical Trials as Topic" OR "random allocation" OR "randomly allocated" OR "allocated randomly" OR "Double-Blind Method" OR "Single-Blind Method" OR "Cross-Over Studies" OR "Placebos" OR "cross-over trial" OR "single blind" OR "double blind" OR "factorial design" OR "factorial trial" ) ) ) OR ( TITLE-ABS ( clinical trial* OR trial* OR rct* OR random* OR blind* ) )
Medline OVID filter from SIGN:
((Meta-Analysis as Topic/ or meta analy$.tw. or metaanaly$.tw. or Meta-Analysis/ or (systematic adj (review$1 or overview$1)).tw. or exp Review Literature as Topic/ or cochrane.ab. or embase.ab. or (psychlit or psyclit).ab. or (psychinfo or psycinfo).ab. or (cinahl or cinhal).ab. or science citation index.ab. or bids.ab. or cancerlit.ab. or reference list$.ab. or bibliograph$.ab. or hand-search$.ab. or relevant journals.ab. or manual search$.ab.) or ((selection criteria.ab. or data extraction.ab.) and review/)) not (comment/ or letter/ or editorial/)
PubMed filter for systematic reviews, metaanalysis and health technology assessment from CADTH:
systematic[sb] OR meta-analysis[pt] OR meta-analysis as topic[mh] OR meta-analysis[mh] OR meta analy*[tw] OR metanaly*[tw] OR metaanaly*[tw] OR met analy*[tw] OR integrative research[tiab] OR integrative review*[tiab] OR integrative overview*[tiab] OR research integration*[tiab] OR research overview*[tiab] OR collaborative review*[tiab] OR collaborative overview*[tiab] OR systematic review*[tiab] OR technology assessment*[tiab] OR technology overview*[tiab] OR "Technology Assessment, Biomedical"[mh] OR HTA[tiab] OR HTAs[tiab] OR comparative efficacy[tiab] OR comparative effectiveness[tiab] OR outcomes research[tiab] OR indirect comparison*[tiab] OR ((indirect treatment[tiab] OR mixed-treatment[tiab]) AND comparison*[tiab]) OR Embase*[tiab] OR Cinahl*[tiab] OR systematic overview*[tiab] OR methodological overview*[tiab] OR methodologic overview*[tiab] OR methodological review*[tiab] OR methodologic review*[tiab] OR quantitative review*[tiab] OR quantitative overview*[tiab] OR quantitative synthes*[tiab] OR pooled analy*[tiab] OR Cochrane[tiab] OR Medline[tiab] OR Pubmed[tiab] OR Medlars[tiab] OR handsearch*[tiab] OR hand search*[tiab] OR meta-regression*[tiab] OR metaregression*[tiab] OR data synthes*[tiab] OR data extraction[tiab] OR data abstraction*[tiab] OR mantel haenszel[tiab] OR peto[tiab] OR der-simonian[tiab] OR dersimonian[tiab] OR fixed effect*[tiab] OR "Cochrane Database Syst Rev"[Journal:__jrid21711] OR "health technology assessment winchester, england"[Journal] OR "Evid Rep Technol Assess (Full Rep)"[Journal] OR "Evid Rep Technol Assess (Summ)"[Journal] OR "Int J Technol Assess Health Care"[Journal] OR "GMS Health Technol Assess"[Journal] OR "Health Technol Assess (Rockv)"[Journal] OR "Health Technol Assess Rep"[Journal]
Embase.com
'meta analysis'/exp OR 'systematic review'/exp OR (meta NEAR/3 analy*):ab,ti OR metaanaly*:ab,ti OR review*:ti OR overview*:ti OR (synthes* NEAR/3 (literature* OR research* OR studies OR data)):ab,ti OR (pooled AND analys*:ab,ti) OR ((data NEAR/2 pool*):ab,ti AND studies:ab,ti) OR medline:ab,ti OR medlars:ab,ti OR embase:ab,ti OR cinahl:ab,ti OR scisearch:ab,ti OR psychinfo:ab,ti OR psycinfo:ab,ti OR psychlit:ab,ti OR psyclit:ab,ti OR cinhal:ab,ti OR cancerlit:ab,ti OR cochrane:ab,ti OR bids:ab,ti OR pubmed:ab,ti OR ovid:ab,ti OR ((hand OR manual OR database* OR computer*) NEAR/2 search*):ab,ti OR (electronic NEAR/2 (database* OR 'data base' OR 'data bases')):ab,ti OR bibliograph*:ab OR 'relevant journals':ab OR ((review* OR overview*) NEAR/10 (systematic* OR methodologic* OR quantitativ* OR research* OR literature* OR studies OR trial* OR effective*)):ab NOT (((retrospective* OR record* OR case* OR patient*) NEAR/2 review*):ab,ti OR ((patient* OR review*) NEAR/2 chart*):ab,ti OR rat:ab,ti OR rats:ab,ti OR mouse:ab,ti OR mice:ab,ti OR hamster:ab,ti OR hamsters:ab,ti OR animal:ab,ti OR animals:ab,ti OR dog:ab,ti OR dogs:ab,ti OR cat:ab,ti OR cats:ab,ti OR bovine:ab,ti OR sheep:ab,ti) NOT ('editorial'/exp OR 'erratum'/de OR 'letter'/exp) NOT ('animal'/exp OR 'nonhuman'/exp NOT ('animal'/exp OR 'nonhuman'/exp AND 'human'/exp))
CINAHL filter from SIGN:
(MH "Meta Analysis") OR TI meta analys* OR AB meta analys* OR TI Metaanaly* OR AB metaanalys* OR (MH "Literature Review+") OR TI systematic review* OR AB systematic review* OR TI systematic overview* OR AB systematic overview* NOT (PT commentary OR PT letter OR PT editorial OR MH animals+)
ProQuest PsycINFO filter from Leicester University Hospitals
TI,AB,IF((comprehensive* OR integrative OR systematic*) NEAR/3 (bibliographic* OR review* OR literature)) OR TI,AB,IF((meta-analy* or metaanaly* or "research synthesis" or ((information or data) NEAR/3 synthesis) or (data NEAR/2 extract*))) OR TI,AB,IF(review NEAR/5 (rationale or evidence)) and ME("Literature Review") OR AB(cinahl or cinhal or (cochrane NEAR/3 trial*) or embase or medline or psyclit or psychlit or pubmed or scopus or "sociological abstracts" or "web of science") OR ME("systematic review" or "meta analysis")
For more info read An optimal search filter for retrieving systematic reviews and meta-analyses
Medline OVID filter from CADTH:
exp clinical pathway/ or exp clinical protocol/ or exp consensus/ or exp consensus development conference/ or exp consensus development conferences as topic/ or critical pathways/ or exp guideline/ or guidelines as topic/ or exp practice guideline/ or practice guidelines as topic/ or health planning guidelines/ or (guideline or practice guideline or consensus development conference or consensus development conference, NIH).pt. or (position statement* or policy statement* or practice parameter* or best practice*).ti,ab,kf,kw. Or (standards or guideline or guidelines).ti,kf,kw. Or ((practice or treatment* or clinical) adj guideline*).ab. or (CPG or CPGs).ti. or consensus*.ti,kf,kw. Or consensus*.ab. /freq=2 or ((critical or clinical or practice) adj2 (path or paths or pathway or pathways or protocol*)).ti,ab,kf,kw. Or recommendat*.ti,kf,kw. Or (care adj2 (standard or path or paths or pathway or pathways or map or maps or plan or plans)).ti,ab,kf,kw. Or (algorithm* adj2 (screening or examination or test or tested or testing or assessment* or diagnosis or diagnoses or diagnosed or diagnosing)).ti,ab,kf,kw. Or (algorithm* adj2 (pharmacotherap* or chemotherap* or chemotreatment* or therap* or treatment* or intervention*)).ti,ab,kf,kw.
Pubmed filter from CADTH:
Clinical pathway[mh] OR Clinical protocol[mh] OR Consensus[mh] OR Consensus development conferences as topic[mh] OR Critical pathways[mh] OR Guidelines as topic [Mesh:NoExp] OR Practice guidelines as topic[mh] OR Health planning guidelines[mh] OR guideline[pt] OR practice guideline[pt] OR consensus development conference[pt] OR consensus development conference, NIH[pt] OR position statement*[tiab] OR policy statement*[tiab] OR practice parameter*[tiab] OR best practice*[tiab] OR standards[ti] OR guideline[ti] OR guidelines[ti] OR ((practice[tiab] OR treatment*[tiab]) AND guideline*[tiab]) OR CPG[tiab] OR CPGs[tiab] OR consensus*[tiab] OR ((critical[tiab] OR clinical[tiab] OR practice[tiab]) AND (path[tiab] OR paths[tiab] OR pathway[tiab] OR pathways[tiab] OR protocol*[tiab])) OR recommendat*[ti] OR (care[tiab] AND (standard[tiab] OR path[tiab] OR paths[tiab] OR pathway[tiab] OR pathways[tiab] OR map[tiab] OR maps[tiab] OR plan[tiab] OR plans[tiab])) OR (algorithm*[tiab] AND (screening[tiab] OR examination[tiab] OR test[tiab] OR tested[tiab] OR testing[tiab] OR assessment*[tiab] OR diagnosis[tiab] OR diagnoses[tiab] OR diagnosed[tiab] OR diagnosing[tiab])) OR (algorithm*[tiab] AND (pharmacotherap*[tiab] OR chemotherap*[tiab] OR chemotreatment*[tiab] OR therap*[tiab] OR treatment*[tiab] OR intervention*[tiab]))
Medline OVID Filter from University of Texas
((("semi-structured" or semistructured or unstructured or informal or "in-depth" or indepth or "face-to-face" or structured or guide) adj3 (interview* or discussion* or questionnaire*))).ti,ab. or (focus group* or qualitative or ethnograph* or fieldwork or "field work" or "key informant").ti,ab. or interviews as topic/ or focus groups/ or narration/ or qualitative research/
CINAHL filter from University of Alberta
qualitative OR ethnol* OR ethnog* OR ethnonurs* OR emic OR etic OR leininger OR noblit OR "field note*" OR "field record*" OR fieldnote* OR "field stud*" or "participant observ*" OR "participant observation*" OR hermaneutic* OR phenomenolog* OR "lived experience*" OR heidegger* OR husserl* OR "merleau-pont*" OR colaizzi OR giorgi OR ricoeur OR spiegelberg OR "van kaam" OR "van manen" OR "grounded theory" OR "constant compar*" OR "theoretical sampl*" OR glaser AND strauss OR "content analy*" OR "thematic analy*" OR narrative* OR "unstructured categor*" OR "structured categor*" OR "unstructured interview*" OR "semi-structured interview*" OR "maximum variation*" OR snowball OR audio* OR tape* OR video* OR metasynthes* OR "meta-synthes*" OR metasummar* OR "meta-summar*" OR metastud* OR "meta-stud*" OR "meta-ethnograph*" OR metaethnog* OR "meta-narrative*" OR metanarrat* OR " meta-interpretation*" OR metainterpret* OR "qualitative meta-analy*" OR "qualitative metaanaly*" OR "qualitative metanaly*" OR "purposive sampl*" OR "action research" OR "focus group*" or photovoice or "photo voice" or "mixed method*"
Embase.com filters from McMaster University
Maximizes sensitivity:
interview*:ab,ti OR qualitative:ab,ti OR ‘health care organization’/exp
Maximizes specificity:
qualitative:ab,ti OR ‘qualitative study’:ab,ti
Best balance of sensitivity and specificity:
interview*:ab,ti OR ‘health care organization’/exp OR experiences:ab,ti
Source: Embase.com format of HiRU (Health Information Research Unit), McMaster University, Ontario, search strategies.
Scopus filter from University of Alberta
TITLE-ABS-KEY(qualitative OR ethnol* OR ethnog* OR ethnonurs* OR emic OR etic OR leininger OR noblit OR "field note*" OR "field record*" OR fieldnote* OR "field stud*" or "participant observ*" OR "participant observation*" OR hermaneutic* OR phenomenolog* OR "lived experience*" OR heidegger* OR husserl* OR "merleau-pont*" OR colaizzi OR giorgi OR ricoeur OR spiegelberg OR "van kaam" OR "van manen" OR "grounded theory" OR "constant compar*" OR "theoretical sampl*" OR glaser AND strauss OR "content analy*" OR "thematic analy*" OR narrative* OR "unstructured categor*" OR "structured categor*" OR "unstructured interview*" OR "semi-structured interview*" OR "maximum variation*" OR snowball OR audio* OR tape* OR video* OR metasynthes* OR "meta-synthes*" OR metasummar* OR "meta-summar*" OR metastud* OR "meta-stud*" OR "meta-ethnograph*" OR metaethnog* OR "meta-narrative*" OR metanarrat* OR " meta-interpretation*" OR metainterpret* OR "qualitative meta-analy*" OR "qualitative metaanaly*" OR "qualitative metanaly*" OR "purposive sampl*" OR "action research" OR "focus group*" or photovoice or "photo voice" or "mixed method*")
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