Reproducibility of search strategies is poor in systematic reviews published in high-impact pediatrics, cardiology and surgery journals: a cross-sectional study

Ref ID 550
First Author J. B. Koffel
Journal PLOS ONE
Year Of Publishing 2016
URL https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27669416/
Keywords • Surgery
• Cardiology
• Paediatrics
• Reproducibility
Problem(s) • Methods not described to enable replication
• Search strategy not provided
Article Type Empirical
Article Subtype Cross-sectional survey/Methodological systematic review
First Author Country United States
Aim To assess the reporting of search strategies in systematic reviews published in Paediatrics, Surgery or Cardiology journals in 2012
Level of Investigation Descriptive
Summary of Findings Only 22% of articles provided at least one reproducible search strategy and 13% provided a reproducible strategy for all databases searches in the article.
Number of systematic reviews included 272
Number of eligible systematic reviews assessed 765
Treatment impacted No
Treatment impacted description
Interpretation impacted Not Applicable
Interpretation impacted description