The Entire Systematic Review is Search! Systematic Reviewers are Searchers.
Yes, it is. Yes, you are.
A systematic review is the search for the answer to a question.
Searching for the possibly relevant records = Systematic Searching
In the search step, we try to instruct the machine to narrow down its collection of millions of records to thousands of search results.
Searching for the relevant records among search results = Records Screening
Records screening is nothing but searching for relevant records among the search results.
Search for the full text = Obtaining Full Text Report
Do I have to reiterate that you are still searching for the reports of the relevant records?
Searching for the relevant reports = Full Text Screening or Report screening
Well, you are still searching for the relevant reports.
Searching for the data = Data extraction, data abstraction, or data charting
You are searching for the data within the reports; however, calling it Data extraction, data abstraction, or data charting may make it look fancier and may make you look more like a scientist or an important person.
Searching for the answer = Analysis and Report
I hope you find the answer.
Conclusion and Suggestion
Instead of making systematic review complex with fancy step names, make it simple. The systematic review is a search.
We should shorten this search process by jumping from the question to the data rather than going through searching, screening, and extracting the data.
Share the data, let me search for the data not the processed data. I’ve heard the processed data makes us fat!
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