How to Set Search Terms

The search term page is the fourth option in the menu.

Protocol Config: See Your Search Parameters and Dates

The page consists of a top banner describing the parameters set in the search protocol, this shows:

  • Search Date Range

  • Max Articles Reviewed

  • Max Imported Articles (per given search)

  • Total Terms

Add a Search Term

You can add search terms by clicking “Add Term”.

A window will open with a few fields:

Search Term

Put your exact search term here (syntax and all)

Search Term Type

This will be the label of the search term. It can be for the Subject Device, or the State of the Art (contact us if you need more labels for your Search Terms)

Database Selection

Check the boxes for the databases that this specific search term will apply to and be run on.

Search Term

Put your exact search term here (syntax and all)

Search Term Type

This will be the label of the search term. It can be for the Subject Device, or the State of the Art (contact us if you need more labels for your Search Terms)

Database Selection

Check the boxes for the databases that this specific search term will apply to and be run on.

Expected Result Count

On some of our databases, we can automatically give you an estimated result count for the search. This is displayed in the ‘Database Expected Result Count’ column.

In this example, Pubmed Central has an estimated 2164 search results, while Pubmed has 33. Cochrane is reporting Not Available which could be 0, or more likely an error on our system fetching the results.

Edit a Search Term

To re-run a search term and updated the Expected Result Count, click the rounded arrow icon.

To edit a term, either update the text in the box, or click the pencil.

You can also delete any search terms you do not need anymore by clicking the “delete” button.

Search Term Syntax and Errors

Because you are able to run the same term on multiple databases, you run the risk of using bad syntax on one database that is still valid on another one. See our guide below to the different databases.

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