Use of recommended search strategies in systematic reviews and the impact of librarian involvement: a cross-sectional survey of recent authors

Ref ID 549
First Author J. B. Koffel
Journal PLOS ONE
Year Of Publishing 2015
URL https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0125931
Keywords • General medical
• Language
• Team
• Searching
• Expertise
• Author
• Cochrane
Problem(s) • Literature searches not validated by information specialist
Article Type Empirical
Article Subtype Survey/questionnaire of authors opinions/practices
First Author Country United States
Aim To survey authors of English-language systematic reviews indexed in the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects in 2012 to 2014 regarding search methods and to ask if and how a librarian was involved in the systematic review
Level of Investigation Analytical
Summary of Findings 51% of studies involved a librarian, but only 64% acknowledge their assistance. Librarian involvement was significantly associated with the use of 65% of recommended search methods after controlling for other potential predictors.
Number of systematic reviews included 1560
Number of eligible systematic reviews assessed 9926
Treatment impacted No
Treatment impacted description
Interpretation impacted Not Applicable
Interpretation impacted description