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Table 1 Distribution of included studies across search source groups

From: The selection of search sources influences the findings of a systematic review of people’s views: a case study in public health

Search source type and stage of searching in protocol

Search sources

Included on full-text (N = 28)*

Studies only found within this group of sources (% of 28 studies)

Bibliographic database search sources in original search protocol

Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA); Bibliomap; Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL); Education Resources Information Center (ERIC); HealthPromis; PsycINFO; PubMed; Social Sciences Citation Index(SSCI); Dissertation Abstracts;

16 (57%)

9 (32%)

Search engines in original search protocol

Google and Scirus

3 (11%)

1 (3.5%)

Non-database sources in original protocol

Author contact; forward citation checking (Web of Knowledge); reference list checking; previous EPPI-Centre review; 16 websites; handsearches of 3 journals

8 (29%)

6 (21%)

Supplementary search sources

British Education Index; Child data; IBSS, Index of British Theses; Social Care Online; (The British Library Integrated Catalogue and Zetoc were also searched but did not yield additional studies)

10 (36%)

5 (18%)

  1. *total exceeds 28 as some included studies were identified in multiple categories.