Geographic Filters

Cochrane EPOC filter (2023 version) for low and middle income countries. [Cochrane Library: CENTRAL]

Sutton, A. & Campbell, F. The ScHARR LMIC filter: adapting a low- and middle-income countries geographic search filter to identify studies on preterm birth prevention and management. Research Synthesis Methods 2022:1-10 [Cochrane Library]

Sutton, A. & Campbell, F. The ScHARR LMIC filter: adapting a low- and middle-income countries geographic search filter to identify studies on preterm birth prevention and management. Research Synthesis Methods 2022:1-10 

The University of Alberta library offers filters for:

•  individual Canadian provinces

• Africa and Eastern Africa 

• Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India

• Low and middle income countries

University of Alberta Libraries. 

• Search Filters for Eastern Africa

Library and Digital Information Networks, World Health Organization. WHO country filters for LMIC countries, v3. Zenodo: March 2024. [PubMed]

• Provides filters for each low and middle income country based on the World Bank country classification

Pachanov A, Münte C, Hirt J, et al. Development and validation of a geographic search filter for MEDLINE (PubMed) to identify studies conducted in Germany. Authorea. March 15, 2024.

VonVille, Helena. Filters for limiting to the USA. 

• Ovid MEDLINE

• PubMed

Cochrane EPOC filter (2023 version) for low and middle income countries. [PubMed and Ovid]

Cheung A, Popoff E & Szabo S M. Application of text mining to the development and validation of a geographic search filter to facilitate evidence retrieval in Ovid MEDLINE: An example from the United States. Health Information & Libraries Journal 2022:1– 12. 

• Earlier presentations of this filter

  • Cheung A, Popoff E, Szabo S M. Using text-mining to develop a US-specific geographic search filter to facilitate systematic reviews in MEDLINE. In: Advances in Evidence Synthesis: special issue. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2020;(9 Suppl 1): 318.  From the abstract there is a link to a preliminary search filter.

  • Popoff E, Cheung A, Szabo S. PNS46 Application of Text Mining to the Development of a Geographic Search Filter to Facilitate Evidence Retrieval in Ovid Medline. Value in Health. 2020;23 (Supplement 2):S651.  This is a conference abstract reporting on a filter to identify research from the USA in Ovid MEDLINE. The filter itself is not reported in the abstract.

Sutton A & Campbell F. The ScHARR LMIC filter: adapting a low- and middle-income countries geographic search filter to identify studies on preterm birth prevention and management. Research Synthesis Methods 2022:1-10 [Ovid]

CADTH Canada filter. 

• There are broad (sensitive) and "standard" filters for a multifile search of MEDLINE, Embase and PsycINFO on Ovid. Last updated 16 December 2021.

• There is a "standard" filter for PubMed MEDLINE. Last updated March 2012.

University of Alabama at Birmingham. United States filter (work in progress) [PubMed]

• Launch PubMed search here

Ayiku L, Hudson T, Williams C, Levay P, Jacob C. The NICE OECD countries' geographic search filters: Part 2-validation of the MEDLINE and Embase (Ovid) filters. J Med Libr Assoc. 2021;109(4):583-589. [Ovid]

• There is an ISSG critical appraisal for this filter.

Ayiku L, Levay P, Hudson T. The NICE OECD countries’ geographic search filters: Part 1—methodology for developing the draft MEDLINE and Embase (Ovid) filters. Journal of the Medical Library Association. 2021;109(2):258-266

• The validated and final versions of the filters are available in Appendix 3.

FMD(3S)/CHLA Canada search filter [2018] [Search filters available for MEDLINE via EBSCO, OVID]

Tadmouri GO, Mandil A, Rashidian A. Development of an Eastern Mediterranean Region search strategy for biomedical citations indexed in PubMed. East Mediterr Health J. 2017;23(9):619-629. [PubMed]

Ayiku L, Levay P, Hudson T, Craven J, Barrett E, Finnegan A, Adams R. The MEDLINE UK filter: development and validation of a geographic search filter to retrieve research about the UK from OVID MEDLINE. Health Info Libr J. 2017;34(3):200-216. {Ovid] 

• The search launch for Ovid MEDLINE (subscribers only)

• The 2019 version of this filter is available to download as a Word document.

• There is an ISSG critical appraisal for this filter.

Campbell S, Dorgan M, Tjosvold L. Creating provincial and territorial search filters to retrieve studies related to Canadian indigenous peoples from Ovid MEDLINE. J Can Health Libr Assoc. 2014;35(1):5-10.

FMD(3S)/CHLA SubSaharan Africa search filter [2014] 

• Launch the search filter in Ovid MEDLINE

Pienaar E, Grobler L, Busgeeth K, Eisinga A, Siegfried N. Developing a geographic search filter to identify randomised controlled trials in Africa: finding the optimal balance between sensitivity and precision. Health Info Libr J. 2011;28(3):210-5. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-1842.2011.00936.x.

Radut D S, Sanz-Valero J. Developing and testing of search filters for the new European Union Member States' research. Health Info Libr J. 2010;27:227-234. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-1842.2010.00903.x

Valderas JM, Mendivil J, Parada A, Losada-Yanez M. Development of a geographic filter for PubMed to identify studies performed in Spain. Rev Esp Cardiol. 2006; 59(12):1244-51.

• Launch the search filter in PubMed

• Cabello JB, Emparanza JI, Ansuategi E.  Improving literature searches. Geographic filters, methodology filters. Two different algorithms, two different applications. Rev Esp Cardiol. 2006; 59(12):1221-4. This is an editorial on Valderas et al.

University of Alberta Libraries offers filters for:

• Africa [Ovid]

• individual Canadian provinces [Ovid]

• Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions [Ovid]

• Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India [Ovid]

• Low and middle income countries [Ovid]

• Caribbean region 

• OECD countries [Ovid]

CADTH Canada filter. There is a "standard" filterfor Scopus. Last updated 21 January 2022.

The University of Alberta Libraries offer filters for:

• Low and middle income countries