What is the purpose of a literature search strategy and what elements should it include?

• A. To memorize keywords
• B. To identify all relevant studies; include search terms, databases, inclusion/exclusion criteria, and screening process
• C. To replicate a study
• D. To select only one database

Answer: (B)

A literature search strategy is about locating all relevant studies in a systematic, transparent way so that the findings aren’t biased by what happens to be found or remembered. The best search strategy aims to identify every study that could inform the question, not just a convenient subset, and it does that by clearly defining how the search will be done.

Key elements to include are the exact search terms and their synonyms, the databases and other sources you will search, and the rules you’ll apply to decide what counts as relevant. You set inclusion and exclusion criteria up front (often using frameworks like PICOS: Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome, Study design) to determine which studies should be kept or rejected. You also outline the screening process itself—how you will screen titles and abstracts first, then full texts, and who will make the decisions—to ensure consistency. Documenting these pieces—the search terms and how they’re combined, the databases used, the inclusion/exclusion criteria, and the screening workflow—lets others reproduce the search and verify the results. Some authors also plan data extraction and quality assessment, and present their filtering with a flow diagram to show how studies were identified and screened.

Memorizing keywords isn’t sufficient because it’s not systematic or reproducible. Replicating a study isn’t the purpose of a literature search strategy, and relying on just one database risks missing relevant evidence.