Acquire

5. How do I manage my search results?

6. How do I manage my search results?

To minimise bias, the process of scanning the results of a database search should include pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Scanning your results generally goes as follows:

Title sift – scanning all the titles your search finds to see if they are relevant to your question (and discard those that are not).
Abstract sift – reading through the abstracts from your title sift to see if they are relevant to your question.
Full-text sift – reading through the full manuscripts from your abstract sift to see if they are relevant to your question.
Studies included in your review.

Following this process, you can identify the studies relevant to your (S)PICO to include in your review.

TIP: Remember to save your search strategy as you go along, so that you can re-run the search at a future point if necessary.

In the next section Appraise you will find out more about how to assess the relevance of your evidence, including the levels of evidence and identifying the best study designs to help to answer your (S)PICO