Atkinson 2015

Appraisal of: “Atkinson KM, Koenka AC, Sanchez CE, Moshontz H, Cooper H. Reporting standards for literature searches and report inclusion criteria: making research syntheses more transparent and easy to replicate. Res Synth Method. 2015(1):87.”

Reviewer(s):
Dagmara Chojecki
Lisa Tjosvold

Full Reference:
Atkinson KM, Koenka AC, Sanchez CE, Moshontz H, Cooper H. Reporting standards for literature searches and report inclusion criteria: making research syntheses more transparent and easy to replicate. Res Synth Method. 2015(1):87.

Short description:
This paper provides an overview of recommendations for reporting a search strategy when conducting a research synthesis. The methodology consisted of: 1) retrieving existing reporting guidelines for research syntheses. 2) integrating all their recommendations into a single document. From the compilation of recommendations, gaps were identified. Additional recommendations were integrated based on comprehensive searching experience of the authors, and based on any missing information that would be needed to a) replicate the synthesis and b) evaluate its quality. 3) The final set of literature search reporting guidelines was pilot tested.

Limitations stated by the author(s):

None stated

Limitations stated by the reviewer(s):

It was not clearly stated which guidelines recommend which reporting items. It would also be helpful to indicate more clearly the identified gaps in reporting standards for search strategies.

Study Type:

Single study

Related Chapters:

Documenting and reporting the search process

Tags:

• Documenting

• Guidance document