Abstract
Objective:In regard to locating clinical trials for a systematic review, limited information is available about how librarians locate clinical trials in biomedical databases, including (1) how much information researchers provide librarians to assist with the development of a comprehensive search strategy, (2) which tools librarians turn to for information about study design methodology, and (3) librarians' confidence levels in their knowledge of study design methodology. A survey was developed to explore these aspects of how a medical librarian locates clinical trials when facilitating systematic reviews for researchers.Methods:In this cross-sectional study, a 21-question survey was sent to medical librarians via several email listservs during April 2020. Respondents were limited to librarians who make the decisions on search terms for systematic reviews.Results:Responses (n=120) indicated that librarians were often asked to search for various types of clinical trials. However, there was not a consistent method for creating search strategies that locate diverse types of clinical trials. Multiple methods were used for search strategy development, with hedges being the most popular method. In general, these librarians considered themselves to be confident in locating trials. Different resources were used to inform study types, including textbooks, articles, library guides and websites.Discussion:Medical librarians indicated that while they felt confident in their searching skills, they did not have a definitive source of information about the various types of clinical trials, and their responses demonstrated a clear need and desire for more information on study design methodology.
Highlights
Systematic reviews are a synthesized compilation of evidence-based materials, clinical trials, that pertain to a specific clinical question
Medical librarians indicated that while they felt confident in their searching skills, they did not have a definitive source of information about the various types of clinical trials, and their responses demonstrated a clear need and desire for more information on study design methodology
The expert librarians who responded to our survey indicated that collaborating on systematic reviews often involves locating clinical trials
Summary
Systematic reviews are a synthesized compilation of evidence-based materials, clinical trials, that pertain to a specific clinical question. Librarians who are part of a systematic review team are tasked with locating these materials for the researcher. Librarians who are part of a systematic review team need to understand what the research team is looking for, including whether the research team is seeking specific types of clinical trials [1]. 109 (2) April 2021 of clinical trials can be inconsistent and does not always provide the information needed to construct an efficient search strategy. Librarians construct search strings using their knowledge of study design methodology in conjunction with available resources. These available resources include, but are not limited to, hedges (predeveloped search filters that typically consist of both keywords and controlled vocabulary) [3], filters offered by a database, and exclusions (e.g., “NOT”)
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