For authors

Search Strategy

A review must be reproducible. The complete search for every database, platform, register and website must be supplied as a supplementary appendix.

Mandatory reporting

Database and platform name, for example MEDLINE via Ovid or PubMed.
Complete line-by-line search exactly as run.
Date of the last search and coverage dates.
Language, date, document-type and human/animal restrictions with justification.
Trial registries, grey literature, preprints, dissertations and conference sources where relevant.
Backward and forward citation tracking and manual searching.
Duplicate-removal software and process.
Name and role of any librarian or information specialist.
Search updates performed before acceptance.

Peer review of the main search strategy using the PRESS framework is strongly recommended for systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Authors must justify the chosen sources. Searching only one bibliographic database will rarely be acceptable for a health evidence synthesis.