Evidence Synthesis, Systematic Review Services : Select Databases

To conduct an exhaustive search for the research literature, a team will need to identify the resources they will use to find and retrieve that literature. Among these resources will be multidisciplinary and subject-specific databases to which libraries and other institutions subscribe (licensed access).

As no single database indexes or provides access to all potentially-relevant literature, the team will need to search several databases, translating the search as necessary for the interface of each database.

The process of running exploratory (or scoping) searches in consultation with librarians can serve to identify the most productive databases for the literature review. It is important that the team record the names and vendor platforms for each database resource in order to articulate the process for the protocol and final paper.

Several multidisciplinary and subject-specific databases are suggested on this page (see below). Of these database resources, most will index or provide searchable access to what is largely published, peer-reviewed literature. Best practice in evidence synthesis research advocates for extending a review to include gray literature whenever possible. This guide provides a separate page to searching gray literature.

• Agriculture | Environment | Life Sciences
• Education | Social Sciences
• Engineering
• Medicine | Nursing | Public Health
• Multidisciplinary

Searching by Vendor Platform

In addition to searching in specific databases, it is possible to search very broadly across multiple databases simultaneously within a vendor platform. This allows researchers to speed up searching time and reduce citation duplication. If a researcher uses this strategy, it will be important to record the full list of databases searched. When searching by vendor platform it will be easy to search by title and/or abstract. Subject searching can be done but because of differences between database thesauri it must be very carefully documented.

• EBSCO: enter the EBSCO platform by using any EBSCO database, such as Academic Search. After you are in the database, click the "Choose Databases" link above the search boxes. Explore and choose multiple databases. Click OK and then begin searching.
• ProQuest: enter the ProQuest platform by using any ProQuest database, such as the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS)‎. After you are in the database, click the three bar menu in the upper left, and then choose "Change Databases." Explore and choose multiple databases. Click "Use Selected Databases" and then begin searching.

Best practice in evidence synthesis advises that Google Scholar be used only as a supplemental search for literature. While understandably appealing for its capacity to search the full text of publications it can access, Google Scholar's algorithms governing its retrieval and ranking of results are not provided and significantly limit the ability of researchers to replicate search strategies.