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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.
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“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]
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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]
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“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]
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“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]
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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]
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Citations
Cites
Synthesising qualitative and quantitative evidence: A review of possible methods
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Yun, S. T., Olsen, S. K., Quigley, K. C., Cannady, M. A., & Hartry, A. (2022) · Visitor Studies · doi:10.1080/10645578.2022.2075205 · Cited by 31
“In addition to the Google Scholar search results, we also added papers for full-text review that were identified through previous knowledge and snowballing (i.e., identifying relevant papers from included papers reference lists, Greenhalgh & Peacock, 2005).”
MethodLyng, K. D., Djurtoft, C., Bruun, M. K., Christensen, M. N., Lauritsen, R. E. K., Larsen, J. B., Birnie, K. A., Stinson, J., Hoegh, M., Palsson, T. S., et al. (2023) · Pain · doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002855 · Cited by 24
Koçak, T. K., Koçak, G. Ö. K., & Stuart, A. L. (2023) · Marine Pollution Bulletin · doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.114671 · Cited by 24
Sufficiency policy: a definition, conceptual framework, and application to municipalities
Iten, T. (., Seidl, I., & Pütz, M. (2024) · Sustainability Science · doi:10.1007/s11625-024-01534-1 · Cited by 24
“Next, a second search was conducted by snowball sampling based on the sampled literature to avoid too narrow a focus, which is common in literature reviews (Greenhalgh and Peacock 2005).”
Better guidelines for better care: enhancing the implementability of clinical practice guidelines
Kastner, M., Estey, E. A., & Bhattacharyya, O. K. (2011) · Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics & Outcomes Research · doi:10.1586/erp.11.32 · Cited by 24
Graffigna, G. (2017) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00872 · Cited by 33
“Was based on a two-step search process following the advice of Greenhalgh and Peacock (2005): a protocol driven search, and a secondary purposive search of seminal articles.”
MethodA review of empirical research on interorganizational relations in tourism
Mwesiumo, D. E., & Halpern, N. (2017) · Current Issues in Tourism · doi:10.1080/13683500.2017.1390554 · Cited by 26
“Method and stock-take of reviewed papers Considering the diversity of IOR-T and the issues addressed in research, relevant papers included in this review were identified by handsearching (Greenhalgh & Peacock, 2005).”
BackgroundLacombe‐Duncan, A., Hughson, L., Kay, E. S., Duncan, S., & Willbrandt, C. (2023) · International Journal of Transgender Health · doi:10.1080/26895269.2023.2232353 · Cited by 23
Kwon, Y., Powelson, S. E., Wong, H., Ghali, W. A., & Conly, J. M. (2014) · Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1186/2046-4053-3-135 · Cited by 23
“asking colleagues, pursuing references that look interesting, and simply being alert to serendipitous discovery,” as Greenhalgh and Peacock argued, “may have a better yield per hour spent and are likely to identify important sources that would otherwise be missed” [24].”
BackgroundO’Connor, S., Hanlon, P., O’Donnell, C. A., Gonzalez-Moral, S. G., Glanville, J., & Mair, F. S. (2016) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010895 · Cited by 24
Brain activations associated with scientific reasoning: a literature review
Nenciovici, L., Allaire‐Duquette, G., & Masson, S. (2018) · Cognitive Processing · doi:10.1007/s10339-018-0896-z · Cited by 25
Cycling as a service assessed from a combined business-model and transitions perspective
Petzer, B., Wieczorek, A. J., & Verbong, G. P. J. (2019) · Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions · doi:10.1016/j.eist.2019.09.001 · Cited by 23
“We employed three data collection approaches in an iterative manner appropriate for heterogeneous and emerging fields, in which delimitations are in constant flux (Greenhalgh and Peacock, 2005).”
MethodA Scoping Review of Nursing's Contribution to the Management of Patients with Pain and Opioid Misuse
Cleave, J. H. V., Booker, S. Q., Powell-Roach, K. L., Liang, E., & Kawi, J. (2021) · Pain Management Nursing · doi:10.1016/j.pmn.2020.11.007 · Cited by 23
Identifying evidence for five realist reviews in primary health care: A comparison of search methods
Duddy, C., & Roberts, N. W. (2021) · Research Synthesis Methods · doi:10.1002/jrsm.1523 · Cited by 22
A Comprehensive Exploration of Languages for Parallel Computing
Ciccozzi, F., Addazi, L., Asadollah, S. A., Lisper, B., Masud, A. N., & Mubeen, S. (2022) · ACM Computing Surveys · doi:10.1145/3485008 · Cited by 27
“To minimise potential bias with respect to construct validity of our study, we complemented the automatic search with a snowballing activity [103].”
MethodCantrell, A. J., Booth, A., & Chambers, D. (2022) · Health Information & Libraries Journal · doi:10.1111/hir.12428 · Cited by 24
Cook, D., Malinauskaitė, L., Davíðsdóttir, B., & Ögmundardóttir, H. (2022) · Ecosystem Services · doi:10.1016/j.ecoser.2022.101432 · Cited by 23
Cameron, M. W., Crowther, L. N., & Huang, G. C. (2022) · Academic Medicine · doi:10.1097/acm.0000000000004896 · Cited by 23
A Tailored Approach: A model for literature searching in complex systematic reviews
Cooper, C., Booth, A., Husk, K., Lovell, R., Frost, J., Schauberger, U., Britten, N., & Garside, R. (2022) · Journal of Information Science · doi:10.1177/01655515221114452 · Cited by 25
“Occasional studies updating this finding [35,144,145] either focus on individual supplementary search methods (e.g. handsearching [146]), citation chasing [147,148], or contacting study authors [149].”
BackgroundIndustrial doctorates: a systematic literature review and future research agenda
Compagnucci, L., & Spigarelli, F. (2024) · Studies in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/03075079.2024.2362407 · Cited by 23
“Drawing on the citation tracking provided by Google Scholar, the title, keywords and abstract of each eligible paper was manually checked (Greenhalgh and Peacock 2005; Vassar et al. 2016).”
Harder, T., Takla, A., Rehfuess, E. A., Sanchez‐Vivar, A., Matysiak‐Klose, D., Eckmanns, T., Krause, G., Gomes, H. D. C., Jansen, A., Ellis, S., et al. (2014) · BMC Medical Research Methodology · doi:10.1186/1471-2288-14-69 · Cited by 24
“pursuing references of references [24] to identify other potentially relevant systematic reviews of QATs.”
BackgroundQualitative Evidence Synthesis
Booth, A. (2017) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-10-4068-9_15 · Cited by 23
Seeberg, K. G. V., Andersen, L. L., Bengtsen, E., & Sundstrup, E. (2019) · Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1186/s13643-019-1127-0 · Cited by 24
Social networks, social capital and end-of-life care for people with dementia: a realist review
Sawyer, J. M., Sallnow, L., Kupeli, N., Stone, P. C., & Sampson, E. L. (2019) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2019-030703 · Cited by 24
Silva, A. L. (2020) · Innovation and Development · doi:10.1080/2157930x.2020.1807100 · Cited by 23
Systematic review protocols: an introduction
Whiting, L. S. (2009) · Nurse Researcher · doi:10.7748/nr2009.10.17.1.34.c7337 · Cited by 23
“Greenhalgh and Peacock (2005) found that only 30 per cent of their sources were retrieved via the strategies identified in their protocol; the remainder of their material was acquired using a ‘snowballing’ technique of seeking references used by the research (51 per cent) and by personal contact…”
MethodFive aspects of research waste in biomedicine: A scoping review
Rosengaard, L. O., Andersen, M. Z., Rosenberg, J., & Fonnes, S. (2024) · Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine · doi:10.1111/jebm.12616 · Cited by 24
Reichow, B., Kogan, C. S., Barbui, C., Smith, I., Yasamy, M. T., & Servili, C. (2014) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2014-005799 · Cited by 22
Langarika-Rocafort, A., Mondragon, N. I., & Etxebarrieta, G. R. (2021) · Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools · doi:10.1044/2021_lshss-20-00005 · Cited by 13
Leading Professionally Diverse Workgroups of Healthcare Professionals for Improving Quality of Care
Yousaf, M., Khan, M. M., & Paracha, A. T. (2021) · Journal Of Organizational Behavior Research · doi:10.51847/hzxov7ry2b · Cited by 22
“Relevant articles were identified through the backward and forward snowball technique in which reference lists of these articles were searched (Greenhalgh and Peacock, 2005).”
MethodMini-Cog for the detection of dementia within a primary care setting
Seitz, D. P., Chan, C., Newton, H. T., Gill, S. S., Herrmann, N., Smailagic, N., Nikolaou, V., & Fage, B. A. (2021) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd011415.pub3 · Cited by 28
Putting humour to work: To make sense of and constitute organizations
Huber, G. (2022) · International Journal of Management Reviews · doi:10.1111/ijmr.12292 · Cited by 25
Abdullah, M., Huang, L.-C., Lin, S.-H., & Yang, Y. K. (2022) · Biomarkers · doi:10.1080/1354750x.2022.2049367 · Cited by 24
“…knowledge and expertise, serendipitous findings from our academic research network, and snowball strategy were used to identify relevant articles through a check of the reference lists of relevant studies and previous reviews and meta-analyses for further studies (Greenhalgh and Peacock 2005).”
MethodTittlemier, B. J., Cooper, J., Steliga, D., Woodgate, R. L., & Sibley, K. M. (2022) · Health Research Policy and Systems · doi:10.1186/s12961-022-00877-4 · Cited by 22
Delivering relational continuity of care in UK general practice: a scoping review
Fox, M. N., Dickson, J. M., Burch, P., Hind, D., & Hawksworth, O. (2024) · BJGP Open · doi:10.3399/bjgpo.2024.0041 · Cited by 22
“22 We searched OpenGrey, the King’s Fund, Nuffield”
MethodSellers, D., Pennington, L., Mandy, A., & Morris, C. (2013) · Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology · doi:10.1111/dmcn.12313 · Cited by 22
“supporting information) was tracked through Web of Knowledge and Scirus; backward chasing (two generations) of references cited in these key texts was also performed.(24) Inclusion and exclusion criteria Studies were included in the review if they described an ordinal scale used to classify the eating and drinking abi…”
MethodKaner, E., Brown, N., & Jackson, K. (2011) · Mental Health and Substance Use · doi:10.1080/17523281.2011.533449 · Cited by 22
“These databases are the most comprehensive sources of health and social science research (Greenhaugh and Peacock, 2005 ).”
BackgroundPearson, M., Jones-Hughes, T., Whear, R., Cooper, C., Peters, J., Evans, E. H., & Depledge, M. H. (2011) · Environmental Evidence · doi:10.1186/2047-2382-1-1 · Cited by 22
“In addition to searching the resources above, we propose to employ ‘pearl-growing’ techniques [15], such as: Citation chasing from included references, “Forwards” citation chasing on included references using citation databases (Science Citation Index/Social Science Citation Index) to check if any new papers have cite…”
MethodHøyland, S. A., Hollund, J. G., & Olsen, O. E. (2015) · Medical Education · doi:10.1111/medu.12622 · Cited by 22
Meza‐Mauricio, J., Soto‐Peñaloza, D., Peñarrocha‐Oltra, D., & Peruzzo, D. C. (2018) · Clinical Oral Investigations · doi:10.1007/s00784-018-2507-x · Cited by 22
Alzahrani, S., & Hasan, A. A. (2019) · Global Journal of Health Science · doi:10.5539/gjhs.v11n6p25 · Cited by 22
Educational outcomes of children in contact with social care in England: a systematic review
Jay, M. A., & Grath-Lone, L. M. (2019) · Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1186/s13643-019-1071-z · Cited by 22
Physicians’ perceptions of palliative sedation for existential suffering: a systematic review
Rodrigues, P., Menten, J. J., & Gastmans, C. (2019) · BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care · doi:10.1136/bmjspcare-2019-001865 · Cited by 22
Inferring Drivers’ Visual Focus Attention Through Head-Mounted Inertial Sensors
Ramírez, J. M., Rodríguez, M. D., Andrade, Á. G., Castro, L. A., Beltrán, J., & Armenta, J. S. (2019) · IEEE Access · doi:10.1109/access.2019.2960567 · Cited by 22
“We opted for defining a conventional search strategy and complemented it with other techniques [10].”
MethodGerencia única: una ilusión sin evidencia
Pou-Bordoy, J., Badía, J. G., de la Cámara-González, C., Zabalegui, I. B., & Puig‐Barberà, J. (2006) · Atención Primaria · doi:10.1157/13085954 · Cited by 22
Möhler, R., Bartoszek, G., & Meyer, G. (2013) · BMC Medical Research Methodology · doi:10.1186/1471-2288-13-125 · Cited by 21
“We conducted a database search and used snowballing techniques to identify relevant publications since we expected several publications reporting on different phases of the same trial [15].”
MethodHaslinger, A.-S., Huysveld, S., Cadena, E., & Dewulf, J. P. (2024) · The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment · doi:10.1007/s11367-024-02312-y · Cited by 23
“The informal approach using personal contacts and academic networks, sources known to the research team, and “asking around” can substantially increase the yield and efficiency of the overall research efforts (Greenhalgh and Peacock 2005).”
Qi, K., Owusu, E. K., Siu, M.-F. F., & Chan, P.-C. A. (2024) · Ain Shams Engineering Journal · doi:10.1016/j.asej.2024.102896 · Cited by 29
Lee, K. S., Higgins, J. P. T., & Prevedello, D. M. (2024) · Neurosurgical Review · doi:10.1007/s10143-024-02560-4 · Cited by 21
“…it is more reassuring to the reader for refer - ence lists of included studies to be scrutinized to identify relevant studies fitting the inclusion criteria that may have been inadvertently overlooked in the search strategy – a technique known as snowballing to ensure literature satura - tion [18].”
Pettigrew, L. M., Kumpunen, S., Mays, N., Rosen, R., & Posaner, R. (2018) · British Journal of General Practice · doi:10.3399/bjgp18x694997 · Cited by 21
de Lima, F., Fernandes, D. A., Melo, G., Roesler, C. R. D. M., Neves, F. D. S., & Neto, F. R. (2019) · Gait & Posture · doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2019.07.124 · Cited by 21
Fugetto, F., Filice, E., Biagi, C., Pierantoni, L., Gori, D., & Lanari, M. (2020) · European Journal of Pediatrics · doi:10.1007/s00431-020-03653-0 · Cited by 23
Rubenstein, M. A., Weiskopf, S. R., Carter, S. L., Eaton, M. J., Johnson, C. G., Lynch, A. J., Miller, B. W., Morelli, T. L., Rodriguez, M. A., Terando, A. J., et al. (2020) · Environmental Evidence · doi:10.1186/s13750-020-00194-9 · Cited by 23
Remediation programmes for practising doctors to restore patient safety: the RESTORE realist review
Price, T., Brennan, N., Wong, G., Withers, L., Cleland, J., Wanner, A., Gale, T. C. E., Prescott‐Clements, L., Archer, J. C., & Bryce, M. (2021) · Health Services and Delivery Research · doi:10.3310/hsdr09110 · Cited by 20
Folkerts, D., Loh, R., Petróczi, A., & Brueckner, S. (2021) · Psychology of sport and exercise · doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2021.101999 · Cited by 21
Sense of School Belonging and Paediatric Illness: A Scoping Review
Tomberli, L., & Ciucci, E. (2021) · Continuity in Education · doi:10.5334/cie.32 · Cited by 21
“…from Moher and colleagues (2009), presented in Figure 1 shows the paper screening and snowballing processes conducted (Badampudi et al., 2015; Greenhalgh & Peacock, 2005; Wohlin, 2014). a. Inclusion and exclusion criteria: Two eligibility criteria were stipulated: (a) studies about…”
BackgroundEstablishing best practices in cancer online support groups: protocol for a realist review
Bender, J. L., Babinski, S., Wong, G., Tricco, A. C., Englesakis, M. F., Cyr, A. B., POTTS, H. W. W., Perski, O., Esplen, M. J., Young, C. D., et al. (2021) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2021-053916 · Cited by 26
Exercise and Oxidative Stress Biomarkers among Adult with Cancer: A Systematic Review
Longobucco, Y., Masini, A., Marini, S., Barone, G., Fimognari, C., Bragonzoni, L., Dallolio, L., & Maffei, F. (2022) · Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity · doi:10.1155/2022/2097318 · Cited by 27
“We contacted the study ’ s authors when additional information was necessary [26].”
Gómez, E. J. (2022) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114931 · Cited by 23
From Little Things Big Things Grow
Wang, S., Scells, H., Clark, J. M., Koopman, B., & Zuccon, G. (2022) · International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval (SIGIR) · doi:10.1145/3477495.3531748 · Cited by 21
“These topics were 7, 10, 17, 39, 64, and 66.”
BackgroundLeonet, O., Orcasitas-Vicandi, M., Langarika-Rocafort, A., Mondragon, N. I., & Etxebarrieta, G. R. (2022) · Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools · doi:10.1044/2022_lshss-21-00191 · Cited by 13
Literature reviews of qualitative accounting research: challenges and opportunities
Hiebl, M. (2023) · Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management · doi:10.1108/qram-12-2021-0222 · Cited by 22
Pires, S. B., Kunkel, D., Kipps, C., Goodwin, N., & Portillo, M. C. (2023) · Health Expectations · doi:10.1111/hex.13948 · Cited by 22
Approaches to Recording Drug Allergies in Electronic Health Records: Qualitative Study
Fernando, B., Morrison, Z., Kalra, D., Cresswell, K. M., & Sheikh, A. (2014) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0093047 · Cited by 22
“We then snowballed [16] from this initial sample on the basis of suggestions made by interviewees.”
MethodMurphy, G. A. V., Waters, D., Ouma, P., Gathara, D., Shepperd, S., Snow, R. W., & English, M. (2017) · BMJ Global Health · doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2017-000472 · Cited by 21
The role of physician associates in secondary care: the PA-SCER mixed-methods study
Drennan, V. M., Halter, M., Wheeler, C., Nice, L., Brearley, S. A., Ennis, J., Gabe, J., Gage, H., Levenson, R., de Lusignan, S., et al. (2019) · Health Services and Delivery Research · doi:10.3310/hsdr07190 · Cited by 25
Effects of sclerosing agents on head and neck hemangiomas: A systematic review
Stuepp, R. T., SCOTTI, F. M., Melo, G., Munhoz, E. C., & Modolo, F. (2019) · Journal of Clinical and Experimental Dentistry · doi:10.4317/jced.56143 · Cited by 21
“Furthermore, following the recommendation by Greenhalgh and Peacock (16), reference lists of included studies were hand-searched to assess relevant references.”
BackgroundSearch methods for prognostic factor systematic reviews: a methodologic investigation
Boulos, L., Ogilvie, R., & Hayden, J. A. (2021) · Journal of the Medical Library Association JMLA · doi:10.5195/jmla.2021.939 · Cited by 21
“Greenhalgh and Peacock found that “protocoldriven” database searches and hand searches alone resulted in only 30% of sources being found in a systematic review of complex evidence [17].”
BackgroundGori, D., Reno, C., Remondini, D., Durazzi, F., & Fantini, M. P. (2021) · Vaccines · doi:10.3390/vaccines9020173 · Cited by 21
“, “snowballing” or pursuing references of references) were also applied to find additional articles [9].”
BackgroundMobile Learning as the Key to Higher Education Innovation: A Systematic Mapping
Criollo-C, S., Moscoso-Zea, O., Guerrero-Arias, A., Jaramillo-Alcázar, Á., & Luján‐Mora, S. (2021) · IEEE Access · doi:10.1109/access.2021.3076148 · Cited by 21
Frequency-Following Response in Newborns and Infants: A Systematic Review of Acquisition Parameters
Lemos, F. A., Nunes, A. D. D. S., Evangelista, C. K. D. S., Escera, C., Taveira, K. V. M., & Balen, S. A. (2021) · Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research · doi:10.1044/2021_jslhr-20-00639 · Cited by 21
The efficacy of adhesiolysis on chronic abdominal pain: a systematic review
Gerner-Rasmussen, J., Burcharth, J., & Gögenür, I. (2015) · Langenbeck s Archives of Surgery · doi:10.1007/s00423-015-1316-9 · Cited by 21
“Reference lists of the retrieved reviews and selected studies were searched for other relevant publications/reports as described [15].”
MethodIdentifying latent needs: towards a competence perspective on attractive quality creation
Carlgren, L. (2013) · Total Quality Management & Business Excellence · doi:10.1080/14783363.2013.776762 · Cited by 21
“A mixed approach was used (Greenhalgh & Peacock, 2005), including expert advice, open search as well as citation search in SCOPUS, Science Citation Index and Google Scholar.”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialKastner, M., Makarski, J., Hayden, L., Durocher, L. D., Chatterjee, A., Brouwers, M. C., & Bhattacharyya, O. K. (2013) · BMC Medical Research Methodology · doi:10.1186/1471-2288-13-112 · Cited by 23
“Realist reviews are an emerging method with few published examples [3-5], and are particularly relevant for complex and under-conceptualized topics with a heterogeneous evidence base where traditional systematic reviews would often conclude that there is no evidence to inform next steps [6].”
BackgroundAhmed, K., Bukhari, A., Altaf, M. D., Lugala, P. C., Popal, G. R., Abou-Zeid, A., & Lamunu, M. (2019) · Online Journal of Public Health Informatics · doi:10.5210/ojphi.v11i2.10157 · Cited by 21
Bayliss, S. E., Davenport, C. F., & Pennant, M. E. (2014) · Health Information & Libraries Journal · doi:10.1111/hir.12075 · Cited by 20
Ijaz, N., Hunter, J., Grant, S., & Templeman, K. (2024) · Frontiers in Medicine · doi:10.3389/fmed.2024.1409392 · Cited by 21
“This strategy is recommended for systematic reviews of complex evidence (97–100).”
Situational Motivation in Academic Learning: A Systematic Review
Törmänen, T., Ketonen, E. E., Lehtoaho, E., Turunen, M., Zabolotna, K., Tatiana, S., & Järvenoja, H. (2025) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-025-10036-0 · Cited by 45
“An additional 10 studies were included in the synthesis based on checking reference lists and citations from the included studies (Greenhalgh & Peacock, 2005).”
Spennemann, D. H. R. (2019) · Flora · doi:10.1016/j.flora.2019.151468 · Cited by 20
Coleman, S., Wright, J. M., Nixon, J., Schoonhoven, L., Twiddy, M., & Greenhalgh, J. (2020) · BMC Medical Research Methodology · doi:10.1186/s12874-020-01084-x · Cited by 20
Designing for experiences: a meta-ethnographic synthesis
Smit, B., Melissen, F. W., Font, X., & Gkritzali, A. (2020) · Current Issues in Tourism · doi:10.1080/13683500.2020.1855127 · Cited by 20
“Snowballing these papers by systematically checking backward and forward references, as well as the references of references (Greenhalgh & Peacock, 2005), identified a further 13 possibly relevant publications.”
Krick, T. (2021) · BMC Nursing · doi:10.1186/s12912-021-00654-8 · Cited by 18
Quinn, T. J., Fearon, P. A., Noel-Storr, A. H., Young, C., McShane, R. H., & Stott, D. J. (2021) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd010079.pub3 · Cited by 20
Lee, K. S., Siow, I., Zhang, J. J. Y., Syn, N. L. X., Gillespie, C. S., Yuen, L. Z., Gopinathan, A., Yang, C., Chan, B., Sharma, V. K., et al. (2022) · Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery · doi:10.1136/jnis-2022-019510 · Cited by 20
Family Involvement in Asian American Health Interventions: A Scoping Review and Conceptual Model
Ali, S. H., Mohsin, F. M., Rouf, R., Parekh, R., Dhar, B., Kaur, G., Parekh, N., Islam, N. S., & DiClemente, R. J. (2022) · Public Health Reports · doi:10.1177/00333549221138851 · Cited by 21
Association between atypical swallowing and malocclusions: a systematic review
Gonçalves, F. M., Taveira, K. V. M., de Araújo, C. M., Ravazzi, G. C., Filho, O. G., Zeigelboim, B. S., Santos, R. S., & Stechman‐Neto, J. (2022) · Dental Press Journal of Orthodontics · doi:10.1590/2177-6709.27.6.e2221285.oar · Cited by 23
A paradox‐constitutive perspective of organizational gossip
Greenslade-Yeats, J. R., Cooper-Thomas, H. D., Corner, P. D., & Morrison, R. L. (2023) · International Journal of Management Reviews · doi:10.1111/ijmr.12345 · Cited by 21
Kupiec, T., Celińska-Janowicz, D., & Pattyn, V. (2023) · Evaluation · doi:10.1177/13563890231185164 · Cited by 20
“Earlier studies suggested that snowballing is a more effective strategy to identify relevant contributions than predefined, protocoldriven database searches (Greenhalgh and Peacock, 2005).”
BackgroundFunctional assessment in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty
Rivera, R. J., Karasavvidis, T., Pagan, C. A., Haffner, R., Ast, M. P., Vigdorchik, J. M., & Debbi, E. M. (2024) · The Bone & Joint Journal · doi:10.1302/0301-620x.106b8.bjj-2024-0142.r1 · Cited by 20
Fassier, J., Durand, M., & Loisel, P. (2010) · Scandinavian Journal of Work Environment & Health · doi:10.5271/sjweh.3138 · Cited by 21
Conceptualizing and assessing improvement capability: a review
Furnival, J., Boaden, R., & Walshe, K. (2017) · International Journal for Quality in Health Care · doi:10.1093/intqhc/mzx088 · Cited by 20
“The search used an iterative ancestry and snowballing approach until saturation was reached [14].”
MethodMello, F. W., SCOTTI, F. M., Melo, G., Warnakulasuriya, S., Guerra, E. N. S., & Rivero, E. R. C. (2018) · Oral Oncology · doi:10.1016/j.oraloncology.2018.04.023 · Cited by 20
Rogers, M., Bethel, A. C., & Briscoe, S. (2020) · Research Synthesis Methods · doi:10.1002/jrsm.1400 · Cited by 22
de Lima, F., Melo, G., Fernandes, D. A., Santos, G. M., & Neto, F. R. (2021) · Gait & Posture · doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2021.04.042 · Cited by 20
Childhood abuse and psychosis; a critical review of the literature
Manning, C., & Stickley, T. (2009) · Journal of research in nursing · doi:10.1177/1744987109347045 · Cited by 21
“The use of a critical literature review also fits more appropriately with the explorative nature of the study, and with the organic process it relies on (Greenhalgh and Peacock, 2005).”
MethodPapers that summarise other papers (systematic reviews and meta‐analyses)
Greenhalgh, T., & Dijkstra, P. (2024) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781394206933.ch9 · Cited by 19
Self-citationTrivedi, D., Goodman, C., Dickinson, A., Gage, H., McLaughlin, J., Manthorpe, J., Ashaye, K., & Iliffe, S. (2013) · Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1186/2046-4053-2-70 · Cited by 19
“We have included sensitive search strategies for the large bibliographic databases and lateral searching techniques that have been shown to be important for identifying outcome evaluations [43].”
MethodZulauf-McCurdy, C. A., McManus, M. S., Golez, M., & Fettig, A. (2024) · SAGE Open · doi:10.1177/21582440241288114 · Cited by 33
“Following the electronic database search, snowball methods were used to detect additional studies (Greenhalgh & Peacock, 2005).”
Screening Women for Oral Contraception
Grimes, D. A., Stuart, G. S., & Levi, E. E. (2012) · Obstetrics and Gynecology · doi:10.1097/aog.0b013e3182699a2b · Cited by 19
Reviewing Automated Sensor-Based Visitor Tracking Studies: Beyond Traditional Observational Methods?
Mygind, L., & Bentsen, P. (2017) · Visitor Studies · doi:10.1080/10645578.2017.1404351 · Cited by 19
“To expand the search, supplementary snowballing (Greenhalgh & Peacock, 2005)—manually identifying additional literature through the included papers’ reference lists—of papers identified for full-text assessment was performed.”
Background
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 ›
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