The DOI matches its Crossref record; 5 of the 5 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Effectiveness and efficiency of search methods in systematic reviews of complex evidence: audit of primary sources
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: To describe where papers come from in a systematic review of complex evidence. Method Audit of how the 495 primary sources for the review were originally identified. RESULTS: Only 30% of sources were obtained from the protocol defined at the outset of the study (that is, from the database and hand searches). Fifty one per cent were identified by "snowballing" (such as pursuing references of references), and 24% by personal knowledge or personal contacts. CONCLUSION: Systematic reviews of complex evidence cannot rely solely on protocol-driven search strategies.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“and snowballing is the best approach for identifying sources published in obscure journals according to their study.”
From Guidelines for snowballing in systematic literature studies and a replication in software engineering (2014) · cites this paper as [15]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“These additional methods were used because prior work by Greehalgh and Peacock [91] found that less efficient methods like snowballing are likely to identify important sources that would otherwise be missed, since predefined protocol driven search strategies cannot solely be relied on.”
From Challenges and barriers in virtual teams: a literature review (2020) · cites this paper as [91]
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“We piloted the use of a highly structured search strategy using protocol-driven searches across a range of electronic databases but, like Greenhalgh and Peacock [17] found that was this unsatisfactory.”
From Conducting a critical interpretive synthesis of the literature on access to healthcare by vulnerable groups (2006) · cites this paper as [17]
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Greenhalgh and Peacock [15] applied three different search methods in their research, and concluded that protocol-driven search approaches by themselves are not necessarily the most efficient method regardless of the number of databases used”
From Guidelines for snowballing in systematic literature studies and a replication in software engineering (2014) · cites this paper as [15]
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“the included articles’ reference lists also were evaluated (using the snowball method) to ensure that all relevant articles were included in the study [21].”
From Advantages and disadvantages of mobile applications for workplace health promotion: A scoping review (2024) · cites this paper as [21]
The check wasn’t confident either way, so it gives no verdict — never disputed.
In the citing paper
“After reading the first author ' s reports on the literature, the full research team decided to exclude another 71 articles from the selection that, based on the full text, proved not to meet the inclusion criteria.”
From The Role of School in Adolescents’ Identity Development. A Literature Review (2019) · cites this paper as Greenhalgh and Peacock (2005)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn the citing paper
“As many relevant studies may be identified in sources other than electronic databases [29,30], searches that extend beyond the standard electronic databases should be considered.”
From COSMOS-E: Guidance on conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses of observational studies of etiology (2019) · cites this paper as [29]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Synthesising qualitative and quantitative evidence: A review of possible methods
Dixon-Woods, M., Agarwal, S., Jones, D., Young, B., & Sutton, A. (2005) · Journal of Health Services Research & Policy · doi:10.1177/135581960501000110 · Cited by 2,132
Competing interests: none declared.
Hirsch, L. (2006) · Cited by 1,396
Storylines of research in diffusion of innovation: a meta-narrative approach to systematic review
Greenhalgh, T., Robert, G., Macfarlane, F., Bate, P., Kyriakidou, O., & Peacock, R. (2005) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.12.001 · Cited by 913
Self-citationRoyle, P., & Milne, R. (2003) · International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care · doi:10.1017/s0266462303000552 · Cited by 693
Diffusion of Innovations in Health Service Organisations: A Systematic Literature Review
Greenhalgh, T., Robert, G., Bate, P., Macfarlane, F., & Kyriakidou, O. (2007) · Cited by 453
Self-citation
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 701–800 of 1,004
Gumz, A., Treese, B., Marx, C., Strauss, B. M., & Wendt, H. (2015) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01705 · Cited by 34
“The measure was developed with regard to well-established methods assuring the interrater reliability of the assessment of verbal techniques in order to establish its general applicability, i.e., Intraclass Coefficient Correlations (ICC; Shrout and Fleiss, 1979), (weighted) kappa-values (Cohen, 1960, 1968; Fleiss, 197…”
BackgroundKritharides, N., Papaconstantinou, D., Kykalos, S., Machairas, N., Schizas, D., Nikiteas, N. I., & Dimitroulis, D. (2023) · Langenbeck s Archives of Surgery · doi:10.1007/s00423-023-03177-9 · Cited by 31
“The snowballing technique [11] was also employed to manually screen reference lists of selected relevant studies for further articles of interest.”
MethodPolice and hospital data linkage for traffic injury surveillance: A systematic review
Soltani, A., Harrison, J., Ryder, C., Flavel, J., & Watson, A. (2024) · Accident Analysis & Prevention · doi:10.1016/j.aap.2023.107426 · Cited by 36
Amyloid Plaques in Retina for Diagnosis in Alzheimer’s Patients: a Meta-Analysis
Jiang, J., Wang, H., Li, W., Cao, X., & Li, C. (2016) · Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnagi.2016.00267 · Cited by 30
“This procedure was repeated until no new titles were found (Greenhalgh and Peacock, 2005; Horsley et al., 2011).”
BackgroundA typology of systematic reviews for synthesising evidence on health care
MacEntee, M. I. (2019) · Gerodontology · doi:10.1111/ger.12439 · Cited by 31
Tomasone, J. R., Kauffeldt, K. D., Morgan, T. L., Magor, K. W., Latimer‐Cheung, A. E., Faulkner, G., Ross‐White, A., Poitras, V. J., Kho, M. E., & Ross, R. (2020) · Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism · doi:10.1139/apnm-2020-0251 · Cited by 29
“D ow nl oa de d fr om c dn sc ie nc ep ub .c om b y 67 .1 93 .1 37 .8 7 on 0 8/ 10 /2 1 Fo r pe rs on al u se o nl y. Greenhalgh and Peacock (2005).”
Christophersen, C., Fonnes, S., Andresen, K., & Rosenberg, J. (2021) · Hernia · doi:10.1007/s10029-020-02359-4 · Cited by 30
Bae, C. L. L., Mills, D., Fa, Z., Sealy, M., Cabrera, L., & Sea, M. (2021) · Review of Educational Research · doi:10.3102/00346543211042415 · Cited by 37
“We used the snowball method (Greenhalgh & Peacock, 2005) to locate any articles that might have been missed by examining the literature reviews of the included studies, and key references to cross-check for articles that would meet the inclusion criteria.”
MethodPöppel, K. (2021) · Frontiers in Sports and Active Living · doi:10.3389/fspor.2021.673452 · Cited by 30
“Two additional steps supplemented the search: (1) a search within the framework of the German sports-specific database SPONET as well as GoogleScholar, and (2) the use of the snowballing technique (Greenhalgh and Peacock, 2005) related to a review of the literature lists of papers after application of the eligibility…”
MethodVakil, K., Desse, T. A., Manias, E., Alzubaidi, H., Rasmussen, B., Holton, S., & Namara, K. M. (2023) · Patient Preference and Adherence · doi:10.2147/ppa.s391340 · Cited by 29
Business angel post-investment activities: a multi-level review
Fili, A., & Grünberg, J. (2014) · Journal of Management & Governance · doi:10.1007/s10997-014-9296-7 · Cited by 33
“The goal was to identify as many papers as possible (cf. Greenhalgh and Peacock 2005).”
BackgroundMuseums and science centres for health: from scientific literacy to health promotion
Christensen, J. H., Bønnelycke, J., Mygind, L., & Bentsen, P. (2015) · Museum Management and Curatorship · doi:10.1080/09647775.2015.1110710 · Cited by 31
“A broad search strategy was used by testing a wide range of search terms and combinations, and reference lists and cited-by functions were used in a snowballing attempt (Greenhalgh and Peacock 2005).”
MethodRitchie, C. W., Smailagic, N., Ladds, E. C., Noel-Storr, A. H., Ukoumunne, O. C., & Martin, S. (2013) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd010803 · Cited by 31
Tomičić, A., & Berardi, F. (2017) · Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science · doi:10.1007/s12124-017-9407-5 · Cited by 29
“In order to expand our corpus, we then proceeded to a snow-334 ball (Greenhalgh and Peacock, 2005) search of articles referenced within those resulting from our Web Of Science and PsychNet search, obtaining a final corpus of 109 articles.”
Time-of-day variation on performance measures in repeated-sprint tests: a systematic review
Pullinger, S. A., Cocking, S., Robertson, C. M., Tod, D., Doran, D. A., Burniston, J. G., Varamenti, E., & Edwards, B. (2019) · Chronobiology International · doi:10.1080/07420528.2019.1703732 · Cited by 29
“In addition, the reference lists of articles retrieved were screened manually for additional relevant papers, as part of the secondary search to uncover any additional articles that met inclusion criteria (Greenhalgh and Peacock 2005).”
BackgroundWee, I. J. Y., Chin, B., Syn, N. L. X., Lee, K. S., Ng, J. J., & Choong, A. M. T. L. (2021) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-021-90692-8 · Cited by 29
Laparotomy with suture repair is the most common treatment for obturator hernia: a scoping review
Holm, M. A., Fonnes, S., Andresen, K., & Rosenberg, J. (2021) · Langenbeck s Archives of Surgery · doi:10.1007/s00423-021-02293-8 · Cited by 29
Building and evaluating cloud robotic systems: A systematic review
Dawarka, V., & Bekaroo, G. (2021) · Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing · doi:10.1016/j.rcim.2021.102240 · Cited by 29
Rother, H., Hayward, R. A., Paulson, J. A., Etzel, R. A., Shelton, M., & Theron, L. C. (2021) · The Journal of Climate Change and Health · doi:10.1016/j.joclim.2021.100087 · Cited by 29
Pizzolato, D., & Dierickx, K. (2023) · Science and Engineering Ethics · doi:10.1007/s11948-023-00439-z · Cited by 29
“…philosophical or semantic distinction between terms such as 1 “Snowballing” refers to a specific practice used in literature review in which references listed on a paper and citations to the paper are used to enrich the pool of papers retrieved in the primary search (Greenhalgh & Peacock, 2005).”
Bunn, F., & Sworn, K. (2011) · Evidence & Policy · doi:10.1332/174426411x603434 · Cited by 27
The Development of Evidence‐Based Guidelines in Dentistry
Faggion, C. M. (2012) · Journal of Dental Education · doi:10.1002/j.0022-0337.2013.77.2.tb05454.x · Cited by 30
Searching for and selecting studies
Spijker, R., Dinnes, J., Glanville, J., & Eisinga, A. (2023) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781119756194.ch6 · Cited by 29
Ayre, M. J., Lewis, P. J., & Keers, R. N. (2023) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-023-04850-5 · Cited by 31
“These databases provide good coverage of medico-scientific literature and the literature relating to health professionals [37, 38].”
BackgroundDowlut, N., & Gobin-Rahimbux, B. (2023) · Heliyon · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18385 · Cited by 36
“In fact, snowballing accounts for nearly 51% of references identified in a systematic review [10] – a statistic attributed to its ability to stream down the number of studies to be assessed whilst still providing a good identification of relevant papers [11].”
BackgroundWhat should we do with CO₂ from biogas upgrading?
Cordova, S. S., Gustafsson, M., Eklund, M., & Svensson, N. (2023) · Journal of CO2 Utilization · doi:10.1016/j.jcou.2023.102607 · Cited by 34
“Moreover, some additional sources were manually incorporated, employing a snowball method by looking into relevant publications on the reference lists of the papers [28,29].”
MethodThirdhand Smoke at Philip Morris
Whitlatch, A., & Schick, S. F. (2018) · Nicotine & Tobacco Research · doi:10.1093/ntr/nty153 · Cited by 29
Incisional hernia after cesarean section: A systematic review
Paulsen, C. B., Zetner, D. B., & Rosenberg, J. (2019) · European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology · doi:10.1016/j.ejogrb.2019.11.010 · Cited by 28
Distant mood monitoring for depressive and bipolar disorders: a systematic review
van der Watt, A. S. J., Odendaal, W., Louw, K.-A., & Seedat, S. (2020) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-020-02782-y · Cited by 27
Buss, V. H., Leesong, S., Barr, M. L., Varnfield, M., & Harris, M. (2020) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/21159 · Cited by 27
“Additionally, we identified studies using “snowballing” techniques by reviewing the reference lists of articles included in the initial search and searching for other publications by authors included in the initial search [17].”
MethodClimate change risks to human development in sub-Saharan Africa: a review of the literature
Dickerson, S., Cannon, M., & O’Neill, B. C. (2021) · Climate and Development · doi:10.1080/17565529.2021.1951644 · Cited by 28
“…these two review strategies, stating citation tracking and expert knowledge have been found to be efficient approaches to identify documents, in comparison with database searches (Booth, 2006; Greenhalgh & Peacock, 2005), and there is precedent for their use in systematic reviews, broadly defined.”
BackgroundChoa, G., Arfeen, Z., Chan, S. C. C., & Rashid, A. (2021) · Medical Teacher · doi:10.1080/0142159x.2021.1965976 · Cited by 28
Lima, L. L., de Aguiar, R. B., & Lui, L. (2021) · Revista Brasileira de Ciência Política · doi:10.1590/0103-3352.2021.36.246779 · Cited by 43
Neijs, L. D.-D., Tisseur, C., Kluwen, L. A., van Berckelaer‐Onnes, I. A., Swaab, H., & Ester, W. A. (2021) · Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi:10.1007/s10803-021-05357-2 · Cited by 28
Spatial overview of climate change impacts in Bangladesh: a systematic review
Ahmed, S., & Khan, M. A. (2022) · Climate and Development · doi:10.1080/17565529.2022.2062284 · Cited by 31
Nieminen, L. R. G., Nicklin, J. M., McClure, T. K., & Chakrabarti, M. (2010) · Journal of Business and Psychology · doi:10.1007/s10869-010-9185-2 · Cited by 31
“However, that NM also located nine unique studies suggests that rigor alone cannot account for the observed differences and underscores the idiosyncratic nature of literature searching ( Greenhalgh and Peacock 2005 ).”
BackgroundMarx, S., Phalkey, R. K., Aranda-Jan, C. B., Profe, J., Sauerborn, R., & Höfle, B. (2014) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-1189 · Cited by 28
“Further peer-reviewed references as well as websites are added using a backward snowball method (pursuing references of references) [17].”
MethodMcDonald, J., Harris, M., Cumming, J., Davies, G. P., & Burns, P. (2008) · The Medical Journal of Australia · doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2008.tb01749.x · Cited by 28
Complementary approaches to searching MEDLINE may be sufficient for updating systematic reviews
Sampson, M., de Bruijn, B., Urquhart, C. J., & Shojania, K. G. (2016) · Journal of Clinical Epidemiology · doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2016.03.004 · Cited by 28
Fahr, P., Buchanan, J., & Wordsworth, S. (2019) · Applied Health Economics and Health Policy · doi:10.1007/s40258-019-00474-7 · Cited by 28
Minors and euthanasia: a systematic review of argument-based ethics literature
Cuman, G., & Gastmans, C. (2017) · European Journal of Pediatrics · doi:10.1007/s00431-017-2934-8 · Cited by 27
Rajendran, L., Lenet, T., Shorr, R., Khalil, J. A., Bertens, K. A., Balaa, F. K., & Martel, G. (2022) · Annals of Surgery · doi:10.1097/sla.0000000000005612 · Cited by 27
Fernández-Landa, J., Santibañez-Gutierrez, A., Todorović, N., Štajer, V., & Ostojić, S. M. (2023) · Sports Medicine · doi:10.1007/s40279-023-01823-2 · Cited by 27
“Moreover, so as to detect any missed study in the literature search, the snowball strategy [23] was used.”
MethodConstructs of leading indicators: A synthesis of safety literature
Bayramova, A., Edwards, D. J., Roberts, C. J., & Rillie, I. (2023) · Journal of Safety Research · doi:10.1016/j.jsr.2023.04.015 · Cited by 27
Ingram, L. A., Tomkinson, G. R., d’Unienville, N. M. A., Gower, B., Gleadhill, S., Boyle, T., & Bennett, H. (2024) · Sports Medicine · doi:10.1007/s40279-024-02143-9 · Cited by 35
Narrow-Diameter Implants in the Anterior Region: A Meta-analysis
Parize, H. N., Bohner, L. O. L., Gama, L. T., Porporatti, A. L., Mezzomo, L. A., Martin, W. C., & Gonçalves, T. M. S. V. (2019) · The International Journal of Oral & Maxillofacial Implants · doi:10.11607/jomi.7526 · Cited by 27
Sosnowski, M. C., Weis, J. S., & Petrossian, G. A. (2020) · Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice · doi:10.1177/1043986220910295 · Cited by 27
“Similar methods have been used in the past to conduct systematic reviews (e.g., Greenhalgh & Peacock, 2005; Kurland et al., 2017).”
MethodElgabry, M., Nesbeth, D., & Johnson, S. D. (2020) · Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology · doi:10.3389/fbioe.2020.571672 · Cited by 29
“were cited in the reference lists of already identified articles (Greenhalgh and Peacock, 2005; Zhang et al., 2011).”
BackgroundMini-Cog for the detection of dementia within a community setting
Fage, B. A., Chan, C., Gill, S. S., Noel-Storr, A. H., Herrmann, N., Smailagic, N., Nikolaou, V., & Seitz, D. P. (2021) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd010860.pub3 · Cited by 32
Emotional intelligence capabilities that can improve the non-technical skills of accounting students
de Bruyn, M. (2022) · Accounting Education · doi:10.1080/09639284.2022.2032221 · Cited by 32
“After the initial literature sources were analysed, additional literature sources were obtained to address ambiguities and shortcomings by using ‘snowballing’ and ‘berrypicking’ search strategies (Bates, 1989; Greenhalgh & Peacock, 2005; Heyvaert et al., 2016; Savolainen, 2018).”
MethodTodorović, N., Fernández-Landa, J., Santibañez-Gutierrez, A., Kura, B., Štajer, V., Korovljev, D., & Ostojić, S. M. (2023) · Pharmaceuticals · doi:10.3390/ph16020142 · Cited by 27
“In addition, the references of the detected articles were manually inspected using snowball strategy [36] to find articles that were not identified in the initial search.”
MethodA systematic review of Australian higher education students’ and graduates’ work readiness
Orr, P., Forsyth, L., Caballero, C. L., Rosenberg, C., & Walker, A. (2023) · Higher Education Research & Development · doi:10.1080/07294360.2023.2192465 · Cited by 27
“Reference lists of papers were reviewed for additional articles and keywords that may have been excluded from the original search using snowballing (Greenhalgh & Peacock, 2005).”
Laparoscopic versus open repair of groin hernias in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Olesen, C. S., Andresen, K., Öberg, S., & Rosenberg, J. (2019) · Surgical Endoscopy · doi:10.1007/s00464-019-06740-y · Cited by 27
Gonçalves, G., Sousa, C., Fernandes, M. J., Almeida, N., & Sousa, A. (2023) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph20216986 · Cited by 40
A systematic literature review of computer vision applications in robotized wire harness assembly
Wang, H., Salunkhe, O., Quadrini, W., Lämkull, D., Ore, F., Despeisse, M., Fumagalli, L., Stahre, J., & Johansson, B. (2024) · Advanced Engineering Informatics · doi:10.1016/j.aei.2024.102596 · Cited by 26
“Moreover, “snowballing” [36], including reference tracking and citation tracking, was implemented on the selected”
MethodGreenhalgh, T., & McKee, M. (2025) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj-2025-084613 · Cited by 26
Self-citationMulti Surface Interactions with Geospatial Data
Abad, Z. S. H., Anslow, C., & Maurer, F. (2014) · ACM International Conference on Interactive Tabletops and Surfaces (ITS) · doi:10.1145/2669485.2669505 · Cited by 26
Managing diabetes in people with dementia: protocol for a realist review
Bunn, F., Goodman, C. M., Malone, J. R., Jones, P. R., Burton, C. R., Rait, G., Trivedi, D. P., Bayer, A. J., & Sinclair, A. J. (2016) · Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1186/s13643-015-0182-4 · Cited by 27
Takousi, M., Schmeer, S., Manaras, I., Olympios, C. D., Makos, G., & Troop, N. A. (2016) · Hellenic Journal of Cardiology · doi:10.1016/j.hjc.2016.05.003 · Cited by 26
Self-Adaptation in Mobile Apps: a Systematic Literature Study
Grua, E. M., Malavolta, I., & Lago, P. (2019) · International Symposium on Software Engineering for Adaptive and Self-Managing Systems (SEAMS) · doi:10.1109/seams.2019.00016 · Cited by 26
“To reduce potential bias introduced with the use of our selected search string we also carry out a snowballing process[12].”
MethodCurrent State of Mixed Reality Technology for Digital Retail: A Literature Review
Jain, S., & Werth, D. (2019) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-22335-9_2 · Cited by 26
“…methods for selection of search results merged a protocol-driven methodology (the search strategy is de fi ned at the beginning of the study) with a snowballing technique (the search strategy emerges as the study unfolds) as mentioned in Greenhalgh and Peacock [72] and Ravasi and Stigliani [75].”
MethodHoek, V. T., Edomskis, P. P., Menon, A. G., Kleinrensink, G., Lagarde, S. M., Lange, J. F., & Wijnhoven, B. P. L. (2020) · European Journal of Surgical Oncology · doi:10.1016/j.ejso.2020.06.019 · Cited by 26
Patient participation in priority setting: Co-existing participant roles
Steffensen, M. B., Matzen, C. L., & Wadmann, S. (2022) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114713 · Cited by 31
Global assessment of shark strandings
Wosnick, N., Leite, R. D., Giareta, E. P., Morick, D., & Musyl, M. K. (2022) · Fish and Fisheries · doi:10.1111/faf.12648 · Cited by 26
Myocarditis following mRNA Covid-19 vaccination: A pooled analysis
Bellos, I., Karageorgiou, V., & Viskin, D. (2022) · Vaccine · doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.02.017 · Cited by 26
“The reference lists of the included studies were screened aiming to identify potentially eligible articles, using the snowball method [14].”
A framework for understanding the quality of evidence use in education
Rickinson, M., Cirkony, C., Walsh, L., Gleeson, J., Cutler, B., & Salisbury, M. (2022) · Educational Research · doi:10.1080/00131881.2022.2054452 · Cited by 45
“The search methods included both database and informal searches (e.g. personal contacts and reference checks), with the latter included to ensure inclusion of quality sources that are often missed in traditional protocol-driven searches (Greenhalgh and Peacock 2005).”
MethodAnalysis of the concept of nurses’ autonomy in intensive care units: A hybrid model
Taleghani, F., Dehbozorgi, R., Babashahi, M., Monemian, S., & Masoumi, M. (2023) · Investigación y Educación en Enfermería · doi:10.17533/udea.iee.v41n2e17 · Cited by 26
“(28) A procedure based on York University guidelines was designed and executed.”
MethodMüller, M. P., Metelmann, C., Thies, K., Greif, R. T., Scquizzato, T., Deakin, C. D., Auricchio, A., Barry, T., Berglund, E., Böttiger, B. W., et al. (2023) · Resuscitation · doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2023.110087 · Cited by 26
A systematic method for search term selection in systematic reviews
Thompson, J., Davis, J., & MAZEROLLE, L. G. (2013) · Research Synthesis Methods · doi:10.1002/jrsm.1096 · Cited by 26
“‘Snowball sampling’, in which the references of relevant articles obtained in a first search are examined for further relevant material, is also a commonly used information-seeking strategy (Greenhalgh and Peacock, 2005; Sayers, 2007).”
BackgroundTechniques for identifying cross-disciplinary and ‘hard-to-detect’ evidence for systematic review
O’Mara-Eves, A., Brunton, G., McDaid, D., Kavanagh, J., Oliver, S. R., & Thomas, J. (2013) · Research Synthesis Methods · doi:10.1002/jrsm.1094 · Cited by 28
“Indeed, it is well noted that systematic reviews of complex and heterogeneous evidence require special approaches to study identification (Greenhalgh and Peacock, 2005; Wentz et al., 2001; Woodman et al., 2010).”
BackgroundKing, N. E. (2012) · European Journal of Information Systems · doi:10.1057/ejis.2012.47 · Cited by 26
“Additional informants are found through ‘snowballing’ (e.g., Greenhalgh & Peacock, 2005) backwards by using citations within the article or forwards using ‘cited by’ lists available on search engines like Google Scholar.”
MethodRycroft‐Malone, J., Burton, C. R., Williams, L., Edwards, S., Fisher, D., Hall, B., McCormack, B. G., Nutley, S., Seddon, D., & Williams, R. (2016) · Health Services and Delivery Research · doi:10.3310/hsdr04120 · Cited by 28
Rother, H., Etzel, R. A., Shelton, M., Paulson, J. A., Hayward, R. A., & Theron, L. C. (2020) · Atmosphere · doi:10.3390/atmos11050493 · Cited by 31
“Reference lists of relevant papers retrieved by the search will be reviewed in order to identify additional papers as a means of “snowballing” [69].”
BackgroundVacante, M., Smailagic, N., Sachpekidis, C., Hyde, C., Martin, S., & Ukoumunne, O. C. (2013) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd010632 · Cited by 27
Masks and face coverings for the lay public: A narrative updatePreprint
Czypionka, T., Greenhalgh, T., Schmid, M., & Bassler, D. (2020) · SocArXiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31235/osf.io/wuk6a · Cited by 25
Self-citationHempel, B., Kiehlbaugh, K., & Blowers, P. (2020) · Education for Chemical Engineers · doi:10.1016/j.ece.2020.07.004 · Cited by 25
NHS Health Check programme: a protocol for a realist review
Duddy, C., Wong, G., Gadsby, E. W., Krska, J., & Hibberd, V. (2021) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2021-048937 · Cited by 24
Visual Cue Based Corrective Feedback for Motor Skill Training in Mixed Reality: A Survey
Diller, F., Scheuermann, G., & Wiebel, A. (2022) · IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics · doi:10.1109/tvcg.2022.3227999 · Cited by 25
“We preferred snowballing rather than database keyword searches because it has been shown to be more effective for acquiring sources in general (see e. g., Greenhalgh et al. [19], Badam-pudi et al. [2]).”
MethodGong, J., Jones, P., & Chan, A. H. Y. (2024) · BMC Surgery · doi:10.1186/s12893-024-02494-0 · Cited by 25
“Reference lists of previous studies were used to identify relevant studies via the snowballing (pearl-growing) method [12].”
MethodMobility of non-binary and gender nonconforming individuals: A systematic literature review
Ivanova, O., & O’Hern, S. (2024) · Journal of Transport Geography · doi:10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2024.104008 · Cited by 27
Gaveikaite, V., Grundstrom, C., Lourida, K. G., Winter, S., Priori, R., Chouvarda, I., & Maglaveras, N. (2020) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0229619 · Cited by 25
“Additional articles were chosen by a literature snowballing technique [31] and confirmed for inclusion by co-authors (VG and CG).”
MethodCustomer capabilities for solution offerings in business markets
Elgeti, L., Danatzis, I., & Kleinaltenkamp, M. (2020) · Industrial Marketing Management · doi:10.1016/j.indmarman.2020.05.032 · Cited by 25
Depression and Employment Outcomes in Autistic Adults: A Systematic Review
Schwartzman, J. M., & Corbett, B. A. (2022) · Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi:10.1007/s40489-022-00331-9 · Cited by 25
“…between autistic adults with and without depression ( p > .05) Author(s) and year N Summary of findings: depression as a predictor of employment Griffiths et al. (2019) 426 Depression, anxiety, or mental health concerns interfered with employment more frequently in autistic than non-autistic…”
Ostos-Aguilar, B. I., Furquim, C. P., Muniz, F. W. M. G., Faveri, M., & Meza‐Mauricio, J. (2023) · Clinical Oral Investigations · doi:10.1007/s00784-022-04855-6 · Cited by 25
“Finally, the references of studies included were explored to capture any potential additional records, as suggested by Greenhalgh and Peacock [28].”
MethodSystematic Reviews in Theory and Practice for Library and Information Studies
Phelps, S. F., & Campbell, N. (2012) · Library and Information Research · doi:10.29173/lirg498 · Cited by 25
“Research into effective search strategies in systematic reviews has highlighted the need for using a variety of approaches and that database searching alone is not sufficient for finding relevant studies (Greenhalgh and Peacock, 2005).”
BackgroundBoone, D. J., Halligan, S., Mallett, S., Taylor, S. A., & Altman, D. G. (2011) · European Radiology · doi:10.1007/s00330-011-2294-0 · Cited by 25
“Potentially relevant publications were expanded using the secondary search strategy previously described and any new publication introduced using snowballing [23].”
BackgroundMethodFood scares: a comprehensive categorisation
Whitworth, E., Druckman, A., & Woodward, A. (2016) · British Food Journal · doi:10.1108/bfj-06-2016-0263 · Cited by 25
“Snowballing was included as it has been found to be more effective in identifying important evidence than a formal systematic review (Greenhalgh and Peacock, 2005).”
BackgroundMcCleary, N., Andrews, A., Buelo, A., Captieux, M., Morrow, S., Wiener-Ogilvie, S., Fletcher, M. J., Steed, L., Taylor, S. J., & Pinnock, H. (2018) · npj Primary Care Respiratory Medicine · doi:10.1038/s41533-018-0108-4 · Cited by 26
Cook, D., Fazeli, R., & Davíðsdóttir, B. (2019) · Ecosystem Services · doi:10.1016/j.ecoser.2019.100923 · Cited by 25
Francis, L., Dunt, D., & Cadilhac, D. A. (2016) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010944 · Cited by 24
Family Routines Within Caregiver-Implemented Early Interventions: A Scoping Review
Romano, M. K., Lorio, C. M., Delehanty, A. D., Eugenio, J., Abarca, D. L., Trivedi, B., & Brown, J. A. (2022) · Journal of Early Intervention · doi:10.1177/10538151211062206 · Cited by 24
“An ancestral search was conducted by hand searching each article’s reference list, and a forward search was conducted using the “cited by” feature in Google Scholar (Greenhalgh & Peacock, 2005).”
MethodGarcia, E. S., Huysveld, S., Nhu, T. T., Meester, S. D., & Dewulf, J. P. (2023) · Waste Management · doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2023.08.032 · Cited by 24
Zahid, M., Bucaioni, A., & Flammini, F. (2024) · ACM Computing Surveys · doi:10.1145/3640314 · Cited by 24
“Later, during the execution phase, a closed recursive backward and forward snowballing activity was performed [80], thus minimizing potential bias concerning construct validity [49], all the while resulting in 15 additional peer-reviewed articles leading to a inal set of 44 primary studies.”
BackgroundHumanitarian Logistics Prioritization Models: A Systematic Literature Review
QUISPE, M. F. C., Couto, A. S., de Brito, I., Cunha, L. R. A., Siqueira, R. M., & Yoshizaki, H. T. Y. (2024) · Logistics · doi:10.3390/logistics8020060 · Cited by 24
“Judgment was utilized to decide whether to pursue these further, leveraging the effectiveness of this technique in identifying high-quality articles, as noted in [19].”
MethodSystematic reviews and meta-analyses in neurosurgery Part II: a guide to designing the protocol
Lee, K. S., & Prevedello, D. M. (2024) · Neurosurgical Review · doi:10.1007/s10143-024-02555-1 · Cited by 24
“In addition, authors should report if the reference lists of included studies will be scrutinized to identify relevant studies fitting the inclusion criteria – a technique known as snowballing to ensure literature saturation – that may be inadvertently overlooked in the search strategy [ 29 ].”
Ingram, L. A., Tomkinson, G. R., d’Unienville, N. M. A., Gower, B., Gleadhill, S., Boyle, T., & Bennett, H. (2025) · Sports Medicine · doi:10.1007/s40279-025-02204-7 · Cited by 27
“Further studies were identified by reviewing the reference lists of included studies and topical systematic reviews and meta-analyses [51].”
Competency in delivering health education: A concept analysis
Hwang, H., & Kuo, T. (2018) · Journal of Interprofessional Education & Practice · doi:10.1016/j.xjep.2018.02.005 · Cited by 24
Realising the broader value of vaccines in the UK
Brassel, S., Neri, M., O'Neill, P. P., & Steuten, L. (2021) · Vaccine X · doi:10.1016/j.jvacx.2021.100096 · Cited by 24
“Snowballing is an effective strategy for conducting a systematic yet targeted search [13].”
BackgroundApplication of phylogenomic tools to unravel anthozoan evolution
Quek, Z. B. R., & Huang, D. (2021) · Coral Reefs · doi:10.1007/s00338-021-02072-3 · Cited by 24
Wang, J., Zhang, K., Lin, K., & Feng, L. (2022) · Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing · doi:10.1108/jbim-07-2021-0355 · Cited by 24
Metadata
- Authors
- Greenhalgh, T., & Peacock, R.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Greenhalgh, Trisha
- ORCID
- Greenhalgh, Trisha
- Venue
- BMJ
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2005-10-17
- Volume
- 331
- Issue
- 7524
- Pages
- 1064-1065
- ISSN
- 0007-1447 (ISSN-L)
- 0959-8138
- 1468-5833
- PMC
- PMC1283190
- OpenAlex
- W2149364707
- Semantic Scholar
- 45cd85a4c05c0c295e4569e08f20a6f3268e6390
- Cited by
- 2,045
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 162 · 2025: 147 · 2024: 202 · 2023: 188 · 2022: 187 · 2021: 210 · 2020: 157 · 2019: 139 · 2018: 88 · 2017: 92 · 2016: 77 · 2015: 74 · 2014: 83 · 2013: 69 · 2012: 41
- FWCI
- 2.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- BMJ (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Meta-analysis and systematic reviews
- Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › scientometrics and bibliometrics research
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Sciences Research and Education
- Keywords
- systematic reviews, snowballing, protocol adherence, database searching, hand searching
- MeSH terms
- Data Collection, Review Literature as Topic, Information Storage and Retrieval
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
