Characteristics of search methods in dental meta-research studies: a methodological study

Meta-research studies, defined as, "research on research," should transparently report search methods used to identify the assessed research. Currently, there is no published evaluation of search methods reporting in meta-research studies. The aim of this study was to assess the characteristics of search methods in dental meta-research studies and to identify factors associated with the completeness of the reported search strategies.

With a focus on the assessment of reporting quality and methodological quality, we searched in the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection database for dental meta-research studies published from the database's inception to February 13, 2024. The extracted data included the examined meta-research studies, characteristics of their authors and journals, and search methods reporting of the examined studies. Logistic regression models were applied to examine the associations between relevant variables and search strategy reporting completeness.

The search generated 3774 documents, and 224 meta-research studies were included in the final analysis. Nearly all studies (99.6%) disclosed their general search methods, but only 130 studies (58%) provided both keywords and Boolean operators. Regression analyses indicated that meta-research studies published more recently, with prospective registration, with a shorter time between the searches and publication, a lack of language restrictions, and librarian involvement were more likely to report a more complete search strategy.

The results highlight the importance of unrestricted language searches, structured methodologies, and librarian support in improving the quality and transparency of reporting search strategies in dental meta-research.