Search

Quality assurance (QA) is an important process in ensuring that systematic reviews and other evidence syntheses are supported by a high‐quality search. This paper describes how the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK established a development pathway to ensure its information specialists had the skills, knowledge and confidence to undertake search QA. The key component of the pathway is that it blends technical knowledge with interpersonal skills. The pathway develops technical skills in the early steps before using peer support activities to build confidence while undertaking a range of searches. QA is effective when the search lead communicates the contextual information that has influenced search development. QA is treated as a collaboration to get the right search for the review. The key requirements for search QA, alongside technical knowledge, are communication, collaboration and negotiation skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The authors developed a validated geographic search filter to retrieve research about the United Kingdom (UK) from OVID Embase. It was created to be used alongside their previously published OVID MEDLINE UK filter in systematic literature searches for context‐sensitive topics. Objectives: To develop a validated geographic search filter to retrieve research about the UK from OVID Embase. Methods: The Embase UK filter was translated from the MEDLINE UK filter. A gold standard set of references was generated using the relative recall method. The set contained references to publications about the UK that had informed National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance and it was used to validate the filter. Recall, precision and number‐needed‐to‐read (NNR) were calculated using a case study. Results: The validated Embase UK filter demonstrated 99.8% recall against the references with UK identifiers in the gold standard set. In the case study, the Embase UK filter demonstrated 98.5% recall, 7.6% precision and a NNR of 13. Conclusion: The Embase UK filter can be used alongside the MEDLINE UK filter. The filters have the potential to save time and associated resource costs when they are used for context‐sensitive topics that require research about UK settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background A validated geographic search filter for the retrieval of research about the United Kingdom ( UK) from bibliographic databases had not previously been published. Objectives To develop and validate a geographic search filter to retrieve research about the UK from OVID medline with high recall and precision. Methods Three gold standard sets of references were generated using the relative recall method. The sets contained references to studies about the UK which had informed National Institute for Health and Care Excellence ( NICE) guidance. The first and second sets were used to develop and refine the medline UK filter. The third set was used to validate the filter. Recall, precision and number-needed-to-read ( NNR) were calculated using a case study. Results The validated medline UK filter demonstrated 87.6% relative recall against the third gold standard set. In the case study, the medline UK filter demonstrated 100% recall, 11.4% precision and a NNR of nine. Conclusion A validated geographic search filter to retrieve research about the UK with high recall and precision has been developed. The medline UK filter can be applied to systematic literature searches in OVID medline for topics with a UK focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public Health England plays a vital role in ensuring the health of the nation. The Knowledge and Library Service ( KLS) is a key part of the organisation's evidence supply chain. KLS staff handle over 200 requests for literature searches per annum, and this number is increasing exponentially year on year. Searches are often complex and require specialist public health knowledge to complete effectively. Library staff who are new to the area of public health require support and training. In this article, Anh Tran, Knowledge and Evidence Specialist for Public Health England, discusses a peer supported literature search training course that has been developed in-house for the benefit of new library staff, and to increase the Knowledge and Library Service's literature searching capacity at Public Health England. H. S. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'Dissertations into practice' feature began life in March 2012 with a dual aim: to encourage students and new professionals to write for publication and to highlight the impact of student research on policy and practice. This article reflects on the initiative and to summarise what has been achieved so far. It highlights the diverse range of contributions to the feature so far and proves that student research can and does influence policy and practice. It also demonstrates that, with a bit of encouragement and support, students are willing and able to write for academic publication. AM [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]