This page is all about saving you time while improving the quality of your searches.

The diagram below represents one approach to systematic searching. It incorporates factors to consider, along with UniSA Librarians' tips to help make the process more efficient and your search more comprehensive, transparent, and reproducible.

A sample set of references that would be eligible for inclusion in your review can be a valuable tool. You can:

• mine the database records for these references for relevant 'free text' terms (aka 'keywords') and subject headings
• test your search performance by seeing if your draft search strategy would locate your sample papers

Developing your sample set:

• consult your review group and subject experts
• preliminary searching
• reading
• other reviews

'Mining' your sample set - search for the reference in MEDLINE and see if it is included (tip: search by Title). If it is, look at the Complete Reference and see what terms appear in the Title, Abstract, Subject Headings, Keyword Heading and any other relevant fields.

Testing search performance - search for the reference in MEDLINE and see if it is included (tip: search by Title). If it is, combine it with the final line of your search strategy using AND. If the record still appears, your search would have located this record, which is a positive indicator. If not, then review your strategy to see why this might have occurred (e.g. a missing keyword or subject heading, or too narrow a search). 

You may not be able to edit your strategy to locate all of your test set - for example, some records are poorly indexed. However you should be able to locate most.