Matthias Ripp, CC BY 2.0,via Flickr
Now you have run your scoping search you should have decided on the search strategy you will use for your systematic review and the databases you will run it in. Make sure you record this information - it is important for the transparent methodology of your review. If you are struggling to decide on search terms or databases, try speaking to your subject librarian - they will be able to give you advice.
A search strategy is never perfect - it will always return some results that are not relevant to your research and you will use your inclusion and exclusion criteria to screen the results of your search. Your scoping searches will inform your inclusion/exclusion criteria - for example, you may find that there has been a systematic review on your research area already and this gives you a date before which you will exclude papers.
Once you have decided on your search strategy, you are ready to run the systematic search. You need to make sure you are recording all the steps that you take in this phase of the literature review. Save your search strategy so you can re-run it when you need to but also so that you have a record of it to include when you when you write up your review.
Make sure you keep a note of which databases or other search tools that you use to compile your set of references. Include the date ranges covered and note when you ran the search most recently. You will need to ensure you are recording each stage of your review from here - starting with how many results you export from each of the databases.
Next step :The Screening Process
Inclusion and exclusion criteria are decided in advance and included in the protocol. They are the criteria that decide which studies should be included in the systematic review analysis.
"The review protocol should provide explicit, unambiguous, inclusion criteria for the review."
The JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis, 2020
Date: Has there already been a systematic review in this area? Refer to this study and it's findings in your introduction and start your review AFTER that study.
Geographic location of study: you may only be interested in studies from a particular country, or countries that share demographic or economic factors.
Language: very few systematic reviews request translations of papers!
Participants: age group, gender, ethnicity etc…
Participant Experience: participants may need to meet a condition to be included (eg: received a particular diagnosis, prescribed a drug, taken a class)
Peer Review: Some systematic reviews will exclude non-peer reviewed literature, but many will include grey literature.
Setting: Where are the participants located? (School, hospital, prison)
Study Design: Randomised control trials, participation studies, longitudinal studies…
Type of Publication: usually looking for original studies, rather than editorials, reviews or letters