7.3.6.1 Search strategy

This section should state how the reviewers plan to search for relevant papers in a protocol and how they conducted the final search in a review report, clearly detailing how the review authors located the studies included in their review. Details of the databases and sources searched must be provided along with search strategies and the search dates. Databases and sources searched should be appropriate for the review question and include specification from the outset of the platform used to search a particular database. A JBI review should search for studies published by commercial and academic publishers as well as non-commercially published studies (grey literature). Any limits applied to the search, for example limiting the range of years searched, should be justified and any language restrictions stated (e.g. only studies published in English will be considered for inclusion).

In the JBI review report, a detailed search strategy for all of the major databases searched should be appended and relevant details and dates of searching through other sources. The documentation of search strategies is a key element of the scientific validity of a systematic review. It enables readers to look at and evaluate the steps taken, decisions made to consider the comprehensiveness and exhaustiveness of the search strategy for each included database.