IACUC and Animal Welfare Resources: Step 5: Evaluating the Search

 The Animal Welfare Information Center (AWIC), provides examples of what an ineffective approach to searching looks like. Some key things to avoid include: 

• Only 1 database was searched
• The term “alternatives” was used alone or keywords listed are not relevant to protocol
• Keywords and search logic are linked incorrectly (e.g., wrong Boolean operators)
• Search doesn’t cover adequate time period

Source: USDA's 3R's Alternative Literature Searching Brochure 

Where you search the literature can make big impact on the quality and relevance of your search and search results. Researchers should consider the following: 

• Did you search more than one database? 
• What databases did you search? 
• Are the chosen databases relevant to your research topic/question?
• How was the search strategy modified to reflect the differences in databases?

When evaluating the search, it is important to consider relevancy of the literature found to the overall research question. Researchers should consider the following: 

• Was the search query relevant to your topic/question?
• How was the word "alternative" used in the search query?
• What keywords and/or subject headings were used? 
• How was the search modified? 
• What were the results?