This is what your systematic search table should look like expand_more
Make a blank copy of the table, paste more copies of it into your document, and fill in your searches there.
Systematic search
The systematic search gives you the opportunity to know what and how you searched, as well as you show to others how you did.
Insome of the programmes at University West you will need to learn and perform something called systematic searching and systematic selection of scientific articles.
If we compare the unsystematic and the systematic search, you can say that the unsystematic is easier to perform, but that you probably will get a little further from the target more often. The unsystematic search is a bit like Googling. The systematic search takes a little longer, but especially when you mix your search terms with subject headings, you make sure to get closer to the target and that you know what and how you searched in a way that you can show to others. Systematic search is a slightly more scientific and academic way of searching. The systematic selection means that you have more control compared to if you only select articles haphazardly from a hit list that is unsystematically searched.
In short, a systematic search works like this:
- Search one word at a time in the database.
- Enter the search terms/subject headings and the number of hits in a table.
- When you have at least two search terms/subject headings, go to the search history in the database and combine the searches with AND.
- Limit your search results - peer review, English, year, and possibly other limits.
Now that you have a search result to work with, you need to make a systematic selection.
- Read all the titles in the search result, include the articles that seems okay.
- Read the abstracts of the articles where the title seemed useful. Include the abstracts that seem okay.
- Read the articles where the abstract seemed useful, choose the articles that can help you when writing your text.
- Review these articles, the ones that are okay you can use in your work.
During you reading, make sure to note in the table the number of titles/abstracts/articles you read. Your systematic search becomes easy to evaluate with the help of the table, and give others the possibility to replicate your search.
The picture below shows how a systematic search can look like.
Advanced systematic search
If you write at c- and d-level, you should use advanced systematic search with search blocks. The page also shows how a systematic selection is carried out and how search and selection are shown in table form.
As a researcher, you can use the Rayyan tool in your systematic search
Rayyan is a free web tool that is used to screen articles, for example when making a systematic review. A big advantage is that you can easily work together with your co-authors, when you need to include, exclude and tag all your abstracts.
Canvas course on Rayyan (in Norwegian, Stavanger University)