Searching for Systematic Reviews: Searching for Systematic Reviews

CINAHL is a comprehensive database that indexes journals from the fields of nursing and allied health. Although CINAHL is not limited to evidence-based information, it is a useful source for finding systematic reviews and meta-analyses. There are limiters entitled “Systematic Review,” “Meta Analysis,” and “Meta Synthesis” in the Publication Type box on the Limits page. There is a CINAHL Heading entitled "systematic review."

PubMed provides access to MEDLINE, one of the world’s leading comprehensive databases for biomedical research, developed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). PubMed is an excellent source to find systematic reviews and meta-analyses, with limiters both for “Systematic Reviews” and “Meta-Analysis” under Article Types in the left-hand sidebar on the search results page.
-PubMed Clinical Queries, which is linked to the main search page of PubMed, has a preset filter to restrict searching to systematic reviews and related research designs, including meta-analyses.
-PubMedHealth, which is also linked to the main PubMed search page, specializes in systematic reviews of clinical effectiveness research, based on systematic reviews of clinical trials.

MEDLINE is searchable via Ovid MEDLINE, which has a limiter for “meta-analysis” in the Subject buffer in the left-hand sidebar of the search results page.

The Cochrane Library is a collection of databases. The primary output of the Cochrane Collaboration, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (“CDSR”), is a preeminent and authoritative resource for systematic reviews in the healthcare field. Reviews included in the CDSR answer a particular research question and are developed using methods found in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Because it is limited to systematic reviews, the CDSR does not have the large number of citations as databases such as MEDLINE or Scopus and as a result is easier to search.

Another Cochrane database, DARE, the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, summarizes systematic reviews that evaluate the effects of healthcare interventions. It is accessible via the “More Resources” tab on the main search page of the Cochrane Library.

The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) is a major resource in the field of evidence-based healthcare. JBI has developed a rigorous, standardized framework to appraise and synthesize evidence, in a manner similar to the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. JBI includes seven publication types, including the JBI Library of Systematic Reviews and Systematic Review Protocols.

PsycInfo is an excellent resource for finding scientific studies in the behavioral and social sciences. There are limiters both for “Meta Analysis” and “Metasynthesis” in the Methodology box on the limiters page. While there is not a limiter for “systematic review,” a free text search using the string “systematic review” (with quotes) resulted in over 15,000 results.

Although Academic Search Complete does not contain a limiter for "systematic review," a free-text search of the string "systematic review" returned over 70,000 hits.

Scopus, a large, comprehensive multi-disciplinary database of peer-reviewed research literature, is another useful resource to locate evidence-based literature, whether searching by keyword or by “indexterms,” a special search feature available in Scopus Advanced Search. Indexterms are derived from thesauri (e.g., Medical Subject Headings [“MESH”] of MEDLINE) and then assigned to each record in Scopus. In particular, there are indexterms for “meta-analysis” and “systematic review.” It is also possible to limit search terms, i.e., “systematic review” or “meta-analysis” to title, abstract, or keywords, for a more focused search, without using indexterms.

A sociology research database. Although there is no limiter for "systematic review," typing the string "systematic review" with quotes will return relevant results.