Biomedical literature search protocols: consensus statement from the documentation units of the Spanish health...

The aims of this study were, first, to define the main advantages and disadvantages of using bibliographic search protocols; second, to define a series of criteria that could aid in prioritizing the information resources to be consulted for each research project; and third, to rank these criteria.

First, a survey was e-mailed to the Spanish Health Technology Assessment Agencies (AUnETS) group, with the aim of evaluating the usefulness of using bibliographic search protocols. Second, a consensus group meeting with the information specialists of the AUnETS group was organized, where SWOT analysis technique (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) was used, also to discuss the utility of using search protocols. Third, the same group designed a final prioritization criteria questionnaire intended for Health Technology Assessment International's Information Resources Group (HTAi IRG), based on a draft version written by the information specialist from the Basque Office for HTA. Finally, this questionnaire was e-mailed to the HTAi IRG experts, and their responses were analyzed.

Some of the advantages defined were systematization of the searches and transparency and repeatability of the process. The perceived disadvantages were inflexibility to be adapted to some situations, inability to establish time frameworks and the difficulty of incorporating experts' opinions into closed protocols. Five areas of prioritization criteria were defined: study topic; characteristics of the database and other information resources; database interface; characteristics of the organization; kind of research output for which the information is intended. A ranked list of prioritization criteria was established based on the responses of the HTAi IRG group.

The information specialists consulted agreed that search protocols are useful tools for guiding systematic searches. The twenty-one prioritization criteria defined will be used by the information specialists for determining, which databases to consult.