A Microsoft Excel Approach to Reduce Errors and Increase Efficiency in Systematic Searching

Abstract

Developing a search strategy for a systematic review is a time-consuming process in which small errors around the formatting and compilation of terms can have large consequences. Microsoft Excel was identified as a potentially useful software to streamline the process and reduce manual errors. Ultimately a spreadsheet was created that largely automates the process of creating a single-line search string with correctly formatted terms, Boolean operators and parentheses.