Duffy 2016

Appraisal of: Duffy S, de Kock S, Misso K, Noake C, Ross J, Stirk L. Supplementary searches of PubMed to improve currency of MEDLINE and MEDLINE In-Process searches via Ovid. J Med Libr Assoc. 2016 Oct;104(4):309-12.

Reviewer(s):

Anna Brown

Su Golder

Full Reference:

Duffy S, de Kock S, Misso K, Noake C, Ross J, Stirk L. Supplementary searches of PubMed to improve currency of MEDLINE and MEDLINE In-Process searches via Ovid. J Med Libr Assoc. 2016 Oct;104(4):309-12.

Short description:

This study investigated whether searching PubMed in addition to Ovid MEDLINE and MEDLINE In-Process for a systematic review identified additional records that might be included in the final review. For all seven recent systematic reviews examined, the supplementary PubMed search (limited to records not indexed in MEDLINE or MEDLINE In-Process) did identify additional unique records, most of which were ahead-of-print citations. For six of the seven reviews, at least one of these additional records met the inclusion criteria. The additional reviewer screening time needed was between 30 and 40 minutes on average. The authors concluded that: “there is sufficient time-lag between a record entering PubMed before it reaches MEDLINE (fully indexed or In-Process) to influence the results of a systematic review.”

Limitations stated by the author(s):

This study only looked at seven reviews by one organization, all with relatively straightforward search strategies. For more complex reviews (for example, those with quality of life, cost-effectiveness and/or adverse effects dimensions), the increased difficulty of adapting searches for PubMed and additional time taken to screen larger numbers of results may not be justified. A larger study of more, and more diverse, reviews would be required to test the generalizability of this study’s findings.

Limitations stated by the reviewer(s):

The conclusions of this study may no longer be accurate, as Epub Ahead of Print, In-Process, In-Data-Review and Other Non-Indexed Citations segments are now available within the Ovid MEDLINE database (see Ovid MEDLINE® 2021 Database Guide).

The authors did not report how long it took the Information Specialist to adapt the Ovid MEDLINE search strategies for PubMed, run the supplementary searches and manage (export, deduplicate) the PubMed results.

Study Type:

Single study

Related Chapters:

Service providers and search interfaces

Supplemental publications to the study:

Duffy S, Misso K, Noake C, Ross J, Stirk L. Supplementary searches of PubMed to improve currency of MEDLINE and MEDLINE In-Process searches via Ovid: evidence from practice. Cochrane Colloquium Abstracts; Vienna 2015. Available from: https://abstracts.cochrane.org/2015-vienna/supplementary-searches-pubmed-improve-currency-medline-and-medline-process-searches-ovid

Tags:

• Databases

• MEDLINE

• PubMed