Methods of Developing Search Filters

Abdelkader W, Navarro T, Parrish R, Cotoi C, Germini F, Iorio A, Haynes RB, Lokker C. Machine Learning Approaches to Retrieve High-Quality, Clinically Relevant Evidence From the Biomedical Literature: Systematic Review. JMIR Med Inform. 2021;9(9):e30401. 

Ayiku, L et al . How to develop a validated geographic search filter: five keys steps. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 2020;15(1)

Bikbov, B., et al. A comparison of metrics and performance characteristics of different search strategies for article retrieval for a systematic review of the global epidemiology of kidney and urinary diseases. BMC Med Res Methodol 2018;18(1): 110.

Boynton J, Glanville J, McDaid D, Lefebvre C. Identifying systematic reviews in MEDLINE: developing an objective approach to search strategy design. J Inf Sci. 1998; 24: 137-157.

Campbell, Sandy. What is the difference between a filter and a hedge? J Eur Assoc Health Inf Libr. 2016; 2 (1): 4-5

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. 

Cooper C, Varley-Campbell J, Booth A, Britten N, Garside R. Systematic review identifies six metrics and one method for assessing literature search effectiveness but no consensus on appropriate use J Clin Epidemiol. 2018;99: 53-63

Damarell RA; Tieman JJ; Sladek RM.  OvidSP Medline-to-PubMed search filter translation: a methodology for extending search filter range to include PubMed's unique content.  BMC Med Res Method. 12013;3:86.

de Vries RB, Hooijmans CR, Tillema A, Leenaars M, Ritskes-Hoitinga M.  A search filter for increasing the retrieval of animal studies in Embase. Lab Anim. 2011;45(4):268-70 

Durão S, Kredo T, Volmink J. Validation of a search strategy to identify nutrition trials in PubMed using the relative recall method. J Clin Epidemiol. 2015;68(6):610-6

Frazier JJ, Stein CD, Tseytlin E, and Bekhuis T. Building a gold standard to construct search filters: a case study with biomarkers for oral cancer. J Med Libr Assoc. 2015;103(1): 22–30.

Glanville J, Lefebvre C, Miles JNV, Camosso-Stefinovic J. How to identify randomized controlled trials in MEDLINE: ten years on. J Med Libr Assoc. 2006; 94: 130-136.

Hausner, E, et al. Development of search strategies for systematic reviews: validation showed the noninferiority of the objective approach. J Clin Epidemiol 2015;68(2): 191-199.

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Hausner E, Waffenschmidt S , Kaiser T , Simon M. Routine development of objectively derived search strategies. Syst Rev; 2012; 1 (1). Article Number: 19.

Kim Y, Huang J Emery S. Garbage in, garbage out: data collection, quality assessment and reporting standards for social media data use in health research, infodemiology and digital disease detection. J Med Internet Res. 2016;18(2):e41. 

• Comment: Kim Y et al. The Research Topic Defines "Noise" in Social Media Data - a Response from the Authors. J Med Internet Res 2017;19(6): e165.

Lefebvre C, Glanville J, Beale S, Boachie C, Duffy S, Fraser C, Harbour J, McCool R, Smith, L. Assessing the performance of methodological search filters to improve the efficiency of evidence information retrieval: five literature reviews and a qualitative study.  Health Technology Assessment 2017; 21.69.

Li, J, Lu, Z.  Developing topic-specific search filters for PubMed with click-through data. Methods of Information in Medicine. 2013;52(5):395-402.

Linder S, Kamath G, Pratt G, Saraykar S, Volk R. Citation searches are more sensitive than keyword searches to identify studies using specific measurement instruments. J Clin Epidemiol. 2015;68:412-7

Pols DH,  Bramer WM,  Bindels PJ,  van de Laar FA,  Bohnen AM. Development and validation of search filters to identify articles on family medicine in online medical databases. Ann Fam Med. 2015;13(4):364-6.

Sampson M, Zhang L, Morrison A, Barrowman NJ, Clifford TJ, Platt R, Klassen TP, Moher D. An alternative to the hand searching gold standard: validating methodological search filters using relative recall. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2006;6:33.

Sladek RM, Tieman JJ, Tyndall J, Phillips PA. Searching MEDLINE for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health literature: questionable sensitivity. Health Info Libr  J.  2013; 30 (2):138-148.

Taubman Library Talks webinar recorded in February 2024 "Language matters: Handling tough terms in systematic searching". This webinar discusses the issues around designing exhaustive searches which may need to include exclusionary and offensive terms to capture older literature.

White V, Glanville, JM, Lefebvre, C, Sheldon, TA. A statistical approach to designing search filters to find systematic reviews: objectivity enhances accuracy. J Info Sci. 2001; 27:357-370.

Wilczynski NL, Morgan D, Haynes RB, Hedges Team. An overview of the design and methods for retrieving high-quality studies for clinical care. BMC Med Inform Dec Mak. 2005;5:20.

Wilczynski NL, McKibbon KA, Haynes RB. Search filter precision can be improved by NOTing out irrelevant content. AMIA Annu Symp Proc 2011:1506-13

Wilczynski NL,  Lokker C,  McKibbon KA, Hobson N, and Haynes, RB. Limits of search filter development. J Med Libr Assoc. 2016; 104(1): 42–46.