Search filters can find some but not all knowledge translation articles in MEDLINE: an analytic survey
Abstract
Objective Advances from health research are not well applied giving rise to over- and underuse of resources and inferior care. Knowledge translation (KT), actions and processes of getting research findings used in practice, can improve research application. The KT literature is difficult to find because of nonstandardized terminology, rapid evolution of the field, and it is spread across several domains. We created multiple search filters to retrieve KT articles from MEDLINE.Study design and setting Analytic survey using articles from 12 journals tagged as having KT content and also as describing a KT application or containing a KT theory.Results Of 2,594 articles, 579 were KT articles of which 201 were about KT applications and 152 about KT theory. Search filter sensitivity (retrieval efficiency) maximized at 83%-94% with specificity (no retrieval of irrelevant material) approximately 50%. Filter performances were enhanced with multiple terms, but these filters often had reduced specificity. Performance was higher for KT applications and KT theory articles. These filters can select KT material although many irrelevant articles also will be retrieved.Conclusion KT search filters were developed and tested, with good sensitivity but suboptimal specificity. Further research must improve their performance.
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McKibbon and colleagues attempted unsuccessfully to develop a search filter specific to KT.
“McKibbon and colleagues attempted unsuccessfully to develop a search filter specific to KT [4]”
From Towards a common terminology: a simplified framework of interventions to promote and integrate evidence into health practices, systems, and policies (2014) · cites this paper as [4]
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- Authors
- McKibbon, K. A., Lokker, C., Wilczynski, N. L., Haynes, R. B., Ciliska, D., Dobbins, M., Davis, D. A., & Straus, S. E.
- Affiliations
- McMaster University (CA)
- Association of American Medical Colleges (US)
- St. Michael's Hospital (CA)
- Corresponding author
- McKibbon, K. Ann
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2012-06
- Volume
- 65
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 651-659
- ISSN
- 0895-4356 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2047221535
- Cited by
- 37
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 6 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 4
- FWCI
- 1.15
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Clinical Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Meta-analysis and systematic reviews
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Sciences Research and Education
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Policy Implementation Science
- Keywords
- knowledge translation, search filters, MEDLINE, literature searching, search sensitivity and specificity, search terms, bibliographic database searching
- MeSH terms
- Data Collection, Humans, Research Design, Review Literature as Topic, Translations, Reproducibility of Results, MEDLINE, Information Storage and Retrieval, Evidence-Based Medicine, Knowledge, Information Dissemination, Medical Subject Headings
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