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Comparing Bibliometric Analysis Using PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science Databases
Published on: October 24, 2019
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Optimal database combinations for literature searches in systematic reviews: a prospective exploratory study
Wichor M Bramer1, Melissa L Rethlefsen2, Jos Kleijnen3,4
1Medical Library, Erasmus MC, Erasmus University Medical Centre Rotterdam, 3000 CS, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. w.bramer@erasmusmc.nl.
Systematic Reviews
|December 7, 2017
Summary
To ensure comprehensive systematic reviews, search at least Embase, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Many published reviews miss crucial references by not using enough databases for efficient coverage.
Area of Science:
- Information Science
- Medical Informatics
- Bibliometrics
Background:
- Systematic reviews require comprehensive literature searches across multiple databases.
- Database-specific search syntax complicates and prolongs the search process.
- Previous studies focused on database coverage, but this study analyzes actual retrieval from systematic review searches.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the optimal combination of databases for efficient systematic review searches.
- To evaluate whether current practices in published systematic reviews ensure adequate database coverage.
- To analyze actual reference retrieval from systematic review searches across databases.
Main Methods:
- Prospectively recorded search results from systematic reviews conducted since May 2013.
- Identification of published systematic reviews using institutional search strategies.
- Extraction of included references from published reviews and calculation of recall, precision, and number needed to read.
- Assessment of database combinations for achieving 95% recall and analysis of database usage in 200 recent systematic reviews.
Main Results:
- A total of 58 systematic reviews yielded 1746 relevant references; 16% were unique to a single database, with Embase providing the most.
- The combination of Embase, MEDLINE, Web of Science Core Collection, and Google Scholar achieved 98.3% overall recall, reaching 100% in 72% of cases.
- An estimated 60% of published systematic reviews fail to achieve 95% recall due to insufficient database searching; specialized databases add unique references.
Conclusions:
- Optimal systematic reviews necessitate searching at least Embase, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Google Scholar.
- This minimum set of databases guarantees adequate and efficient coverage for most systematic reviews.
- Failure to include these core databases results in incomplete retrieval of relevant literature.
Keywords:
Databases, bibliographicInformation storage and retrievalReview literature as topicSensitivity and specificityMore Related Videos
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