Study Design Filters | Management for PRISMA Flow Diagram
Systematic reviews are studies designed for the highest level of evidence in evidence-based medicine. They focus on specific healthcare problems and follow rigorous, systematic, and reproducible methods to reduce the possibility of research bias. Systematic reviews are a type of research method that attempts to formulate problems, search, filter, and evaluate single studies and also integrates the presentation of research evidence and provides clinical recommendations. Meta-analysis (MA) uses statistical methods to synthesize and summarize different research data and provide quantitative evidence.
The medical library designs course materials by following the Cochrane Handbook, PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses), and other research guides to efficiently and comprehensively search for and manage literature papers, and promote the publication of high-quality studies. Courses are offered on a monthly basis. Course content covers two topics and four units. A certificate of completion is awarded upon completion of the designated course. You can visit **SR website** for more information.
This course introduces strategies for searching systematic reviews, including the collection of search terms (synonyms and controlled vocabularies), applicable database, and use of method syntax. All-in-One documentation form is provided to facilitate the development of structured search strategies and keep a good record of the search process.
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After a combined search of the search terms is completed and the number of results is obtained, the appropriate method of screening syntax is adopted according to the research design to be analyzed. For medical disciplines please see Appendices 2 of Documentation Form for the filters used in each database/platform corresponding to the different types of research designs: RCT, Cohort Study, Case-control, observational study, and qualitative study, respectively. Note that the appropriate filters or hand-searching method should be used for different types of research questions (Therapy, Diagnosis, Etiology…), designs, databases (MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus), and platforms (Ovid, EBSCOhost). (Database built-in research design filter functions have greater accuracy; filters required for systematic reviews can achieve higher sensitivity through research-verified search syntax to reduce the possibility of excluding relevant articles.)
Note 1. Please modify the usage according to your own topic, adjustments may be needed to increase or decrease.
Note 2. Controlled vocabulary: Emtree in orange | MeSH in red