literature searching 101

PATHOLOGY Grand Rounds

introducing the

LITERATURE SEARCH

research medical library 

Laurissa GannOutreach Coordinator

lgann@mdanderson.org

A literature search is a well thought out

and organized search for all of the literature published on a topic.

In PubMed, there are over 22 million citations for biomedical

literature to date

Approximately 712,000 citations are added to PubMed every year

1, 950 articles per day.

81 articles per hour.

Today we will…

we can help at every step of the way

1Pose a searchable question

2Find the best

places to search 3Dissect a database

Pose a searchable question

identify, consider, and focus

1

Creating the searchable questionPa

tient What are the

characteristics of the patient?What is the condition or disease you are interested in?In

terv

entio

n Which main intervention, prognostic factor, or exposure are you considering?

Com

paris

on What is the alternative to the intervention (e.g. placebo, different drug, surgery)?O

utco

me

What can you hope to accomplish, measure, improve or affect?

Type

of S

tudy Systematic review

Controlled trialCohort study Economic evaluationQualitative etc.

Choosing a Study Design

Type of Question Type of Study

Therapy/Treatment/PreventionAn evaluation of a therapeutic or preventive intervention.

Double-BlindRandomized Controlled TrialSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis of RCT

DiagnosisAn evaluation of a test, screening or other assessment such as history or physical exam.

Controlled TrialSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis of Controlled Trial

PrognosisAn evaluation of clinical outcomes over time.

Cohort StudiesCase ControlCase Series

Harm/EtiologyAn evaluation of a therapeutic, preventive, screening or diagnostic intervention, or anon-therapeutic exposure or behavior.

Cohort Studies

I want to know what the outcome of BRCA1/2 testing is for patients. Do most women who test positive choose to have a preventative mastectomy?

PatientBRCA Mutation Carriers

InterventionPredictive testing

ComparisonNone

OutcomeRisk reduction decision for aPM Type of Study

RCTsSystematic RevMeta-Analysis

In BRCA mutation carriers, what is the effect of predictive testing on the decision for a preventive mastectomy?

Choosing Search Terms• Look for synonyms (flush, irrigate)• Differences in spelling (Hematology, Haematology)• Abbreviations• Suffixes (Rheumatic, Rheumatology)• Generic and trade names of drugs

PatientWomenBRCA1BRCA2

InterventionPredictive testing

ComparisonNone

Type of StudyRCTsSystematic RevMeta-Analysis

In BRCA mutation carriers, what is the effect of predictive testing on the decision for a preventive mastectomy?

OutcomeDecision-makingChoiceRiskProphylactic MastectomyMastectomy

Choosing Your Search Terms

2 Find the best places to search

research, evaluate, and compile

The type of search determines where you will search.

Decision Support Tools Search EnginesDatabasesUpToDateDynaMedLexi-Comp

PubMedCochrane Library

EmbaseOvid Medline

Scopus

GoogleScholar

How many databases should I search?

Background Search1 or 2

Systematic Review5 or 6

Literature Review3 or 4

3 Dissect a database

expose, understand, and search

• Phrase versus Word Searching

• Truncation

• Controlled vocabulary/thesaurus searching

• Advanced Searching

What are the searching features of the database?

• Check for limit options?

• Are there any special modifiers available?

• Can you combine searches or add more concepts to your original search?

What do I do if I get too many

results?

• Eliminate concepts

• Look for related articles

• Cited reference searchWhat do I do if I

get too few results?

• Create an account to save your search strategy or results.

• Find an export or output button to download, save or e-mail results.

How do I print, e-mail, save or download my

search results?

• Look for the MD Anderson Full Text button.

How do I get the full-text PDFs?

? Contact usAsk a librarian a question

Email RML-Help@mdanderson.orgPhone 713-792-2282

Live chat with a librarian on our websitewww.mdanderson.org/library

In person: Floor 21 Pickens Tower