Can J Surg 2015;58(5):349-358 | PDF | Appendix
Daniel Waltho, MD (c); Manraj Nirmal Kaur, MSc, PhD (c); R. Brian Haynes, MD, PhD; Forough Farrokhyar, PhD; Achilleas Thoma, MD, MSc
Summary
The article “Users’ guide to the surgical literature: how to perform a literature search” was published in 2003, but the continuing technological developments in databases and search filters have rendered that guide out of date. The present guide fills an existing gap in this area; it provides the reader with strategies for developing a searchable clinical question, creating an efficient search strategy, accessing appropriate databases, and skillfully retrieving the best evidence to address the research question.
Accepted for publication Mar. 17, 2015
Affiliations: From the Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont. (Waltho); the Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont. (Kaur, Thoma); the Surgical Outcomes Research Centre, Department of Surgery, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont. (Kaur, Farrokhyar, Thoma); the School of Rehabilitation Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont. (Kaur); and the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont. (Haynes, Farrokhyar, Thoma).
Competing interests: None declared.
Contributors: All authors contributed substantially to writing and/or revising and to the conception and design of the manuscript and approved the final version for publication.
DOI: 10.1503/cjs.017314
Correspondence to: A. Thoma, 101-206 James St South, Hamilton, ON, L8P 3A9; athoma@mcmaster.ca