A variation of this form was used to gather the information to generate the database searches for the systematic reviews. All fields were to be filled in and e-mailed to the searcher.
P.I. (Principal Investigator) (name & contact information)
CONTACT Group (E-Mail addresses of other persons who should receive a copy of search results and questions related to the search)
TOPIC
QUESTION Number
(most topics have several individual search questions)
1. Statement of the question as text.
2. Key concepts within the question, IN PRIORITY ORDER
3. By concept, variant terms and phrases which can be used to describe concept.
(NOTE: This works best in a team approach.)
4. Key articles.
NOTE: This may include two types of articles. If so, they need to be identified as to which group they belong in. The two groups would be (most important) articles which *must* be retrieved by a valid search strategy, and (of secondary importance) articles which may be broader in scope but which would usually be cited by articles on the topic. Please limit yourself to 3-5 articles.
LIMITS
___ Human
___ Animal
___ English language only
___ Years (start date only) ____________
___ Age groups
Pick all that apply to *this* search question. If you want the question repeated for a different group, please submit it as a separate question.
___ ALL AGES
___ Newborn (birth to one month)
___ Infant (1 to 24 month)
___ Preschool Child (2-5 years)
___ Child (6-12 years)
___ Adolescence (13-18 years)
___ Adult (19-44 years)
___ Middle Age (45-64 years)
___ Aged (65 and older)
___ Aged, (80 and older)
___ Geographic
(I think most topics are international in scope, so I don't expect to see this used much)
DATABASES
All searches will be run first in Medline (OVID), then in EMBASE. Depending on time contraints, some searches may be run in Cochrane and/or Webofscience.
FOCUS
___ Prevention
___ Diagnosis
___ Treatment/Therapy
___ Outcomes/Prognosis
___ Etiology
STUDY TYPES (Most topics should NOT use this section, but should instead rely on examining the articles to determine which ones are of the type most desired. This set of limits should only apply to searches which anticipate retrieving final search results in the thousands. If you think you should be using this, I can send you a different version of this worksheet which includes this option.)