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	Cochrane Error General medical Searching
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?	Not Applicable
Are the methods of the article described in enough detail to replicate the study?	Yes