Errors in search strategies were identified by type and frequency

Ref ID	409
First Author	M. Sampson
Journal	JOURNAL OF CLINICAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
Year Of Publishing	2006
URL	https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16980145/
Keywords	• General medical • Searching • Cochrane • Error
Problem(s)	• Errors or omissions in search strategy
Number of systematic reviews included	105
Summary of Findings	Most (90.5%) of the assessed search strategies contained at least one error. Errors that could potentially lower recall of relevant studies were found in 82.5% and inconsequential errors (to the evidence base) were found in 60.3% of the search strategies. The most common search errors were missed MeSH terms (44.4%), unwarranted explosion of MeSH terms (38.1%), and irrelevant MeSH or free text terms (28.6%). Missed spelling variants, combining MeSH and free text terms in the same line, and failure to tailor the search strategy for other databases occurred with equal frequency (20.6%). Logical operator error occurred in 19.0% of searches.
Did the article find that the problem(s) led to qualitative changes in interpretation of the results?	N/A
Are the methods of the article described in enough detail to replicate the study?	Yes