This course is run: Library's Research Support Team

Target audience
Postgraduate research students and research staff undertaking a systematic or scoping review.

Pre-requisites
Some experience of searching literature databases, such as MEDLINE or PsycINFO, is recommended. 

You may also find it helpful to attend your faculty-specific Researcher Information Skills course beforehand. These in-person sessions can be booked via Central Short Courses, and asynchronous on-demand versions are also available for Arts, Engineering, Medicine & Health Sciences, Science, and Social Sciences.

Course description
A systematic review is a structured approach to searching, critically appraising, and synthesising evidence to answer a specific research question. This course introduces strategies for identifying and retrieving evidence from the published literature, emphasising methods that are comprehensive, transparent, and reproducible.

Topics covered include: searching for existing reviews to inform your strategy; breaking down a research question into searchable concepts; combining keywords with subject headings (e.g., MeSH); applying advanced search techniques (such as truncation and wildcards); and guidance on the practical considerations involved in undertaking a full search, as well as how to replicate searches across multiple databases.

The course is suitable for researchers across all disciplines, though it may be of particular interest to those in medical and health-related research, as demonstrations will be undertaken in MEDLINE (Ovid).

Learning outcomes
By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Find relevant systematic reviews (or protocols).
• Break down a research question into individual search concepts using a framework, such as PICO.
• Gain practical experience in constructing and refining an advanced search using Ovid MEDLINE.
• Devise an effective search strategy, using advanced searching techniques.

Process
This is a two-hour, in-person course consisting of presentations, demonstrations, and hands-on practical exercises.

Attendees are encouraged to try out their own searches after the course and will be invited to an optional online follow-up session, where they can discuss their strategies, share experiences, and receive some additional guidance and support. Access details for this follow-up session will be shared during the course.

Tutors
Research Support Librarians.

Please email the Research Support team with any queries about this course:
library-researchsupport@nottingham.ac.uk
Please note that attendance will be recorded. There are no training points associated with this course.

Accessibility
If you feel you will experience any difficulties participating, please let us know via the ‘special requirements’ tab, providing as much information as possible. The special requirements tab can be completed when you book your place. Alternatively, you can contact us directly at: library-researchsupport@nottingham.ac.uk