Table 4 Examples of sources searched in systematic reviews

Health systems review

Example: Systematic review of lay health worker interventions in primary and community healthcare [44]

1. Electronic databases of published studies:

• MEDLINE

• Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and specialised Cochrane Registers (EPOC and Consumers and Communication Review Groups)

• Science Citations

• EMBASE

• CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature)

• Healthstar

• AMED (Allied and Complementary Medicine Database)

• Leeds Health Education Effectiveness Database

2. Bibliographies of studies assessed for inclusion

3. All contacted authors were asked for details of additional studies

Public health review

Example: Systematic review of male circumcision for prevention of heterosexual acquisition of HIV in men [55]

1. Electronic databases of published studies:

• MEDLINE

• EMBASE

• Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL)

2. Electronic databases of conference abstracts:

• AIDSearch Conference databases

3. Electronic databases of ongoing trials:

• ClinicalTrials.gov

• Current Controlled Trials

4. Contacted researchers and relevant organisations in the field

5. Checked the reference lists of all studies identified by the above methods and examined any systematic reviews, meta-analyses, or prevention guidelines identified during the search process

Clinical review

Example: Systematic review of statins for the prevention of dementia [56]

1. Electronic databases:

• The Specialized Register of the Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive

• Improvement Group

• Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL)

• MEDLINE

• EMBASE

• PsycINFO (a database of psychological literature)

• CINAHL

• SIGLE (Grey Literature in Europe)

• LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Health Science Literature)

2. Electronic databases of conference abstracts:

• ISTP (Index to Scientific and Technical Proceedings)

• INSIDE (British Library Database of Conference Proceedings and Journals)

3. Electronic databases of theses:

• Index to Theses (formerly ASLIB) (United Kingdom and Ireland theses)

• Australian Digital Theses Program

• Canadian Theses and Dissertations

• DATAD - Database of African Theses and Dissertations

• Dissertation Abstract Online (USA)

4. Electronic databases of ongoing trials: searched a large range of such databases