Reporting standards for literature searches and report inclusion criteria: making research syntheses more transparent and easy to replicate

• Published in: Research synthesis methods 2015-03, Vol.6 (1), p.87-95
• Main Authors: Atkinson, Kayla M., Koenka, Alison C., Sanchez, Carmen E., Moshontz, Hannah, Cooper, Harris
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bibliographies; Biostatistics - methods; Citations (References); Databases as Topic - statistics & numerical data; Evaluation Methods; Guidelines; Guidelines as Topic - standards; Humans; Information Storage and Retrieval - standards; Information Storage and Retrieval - statistics & numerical data; Literature Reviews; literature search; Meta Analysis; Meta-Analysis as Topic; Periodicals as Topic - statistics & numerical data; Reference Materials; Research methodology; research synthesis; Search Strategies
• ISSN: 1759-2879; 1759-2887
• DOI: 10.1002/jrsm.1127

A complete description of the literature search, including the criteria used for the inclusion of reports after they have been located, used in a research synthesis or meta‐analysis is critical if subsequent researchers are to accurately evaluate and reproduce a synthesis' methods and results. Based on previous guidelines and new suggestions, we present a set of focused and detailed standards for reporting the methods used in a literature search. The guidelines cover five search strategies: reference database searches, journal and bibliography searches, searches of the reference lists of reports, citation searches, and direct contact searches. First, we bring together all the unique recommendations made in existing guidelines for research synthesis. Second, we identify gaps in reporting standards for search strategies. Third, we address these gaps by providing new reporting recommendations. Our hope is to facilitate successful evaluation and replication of research synthesis results. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.