Designing Systematic Searches: An Introductory Workshop

One of the key features of all evidence synthesis is to conduct a systematic search. Systematic literature searching requires that we plan and run searches in a way that ensures clarity, validity and reliability. Documenting the searching process is vital to ensure transparency and reproducibility.

This workshop provides attendees with the knowledge and skills to conduct a basic systematic search of the literature including designing and running searches on key databases and identifying and selecting search filters.

In this course, participants will be enabled to:

• Design a basic systematic search strategy

• Identify and use study-design search filters

• Report the search methods

The workshop will consist of a mixture of short presentations and small group activities with practical exercises. Please bring along your laptops for the exercises. Questions and discussion are encouraged. A short reading list/activity list will be sent to enrolled attendees in advance of the session.

30 available for individuals who are resident in Ireland & Northern Ireland

Julie Glanville, an independent consultant and trainer in information retrieval. Julie has worked in systematic reviews for more than 25 years as Associate Director of York Health Economics Consortium (YHEC) (2008-2019) and Associate Director at the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD), University of York (1994 – 2008). Julie was a co-convenor of the Cochrane Information Retrieval Methods Group and is a co-author of the Cochrane Handbook chapter on searching for evidence and the 2020 PRISMA guidance.

09:00: An Introduction to Searching for Evidence Synthesis: searching basics.

09:30: Conducting a systematic search/ Translating the research question into a search including identifying the concepts within a search (presentation and activities).

10:30: Break

10:45: Identifying and Using Subject Headings and Text words (presentation)

11:15: Identifying and Using Subject Headings and Text Words (exercises)

12:00: Identifying and Using Methodological Search Filters (presentation)

12:30: Lunch

13:00: Identifying and Using Methodological Search Filters (exercises)

13:30: Peer reviewing search strategies (presentation)

14:00: Peer reviewing search strategies (exercises)

14:45: Break

15:00: Documenting and reporting the search strategy (presentation and discussion)

15:45: Wrap up, discussion and evaluation

16:00: Close

Host or Publisher Evidence Synthesis Ireland & Cochrane Ireland