Handsearching is a critical part of the review to find materials not found through traditional searches. It is a manual process to examine and identify further relevant studies and includes:
- Perusing the pages of key journals, conferences and other sources
- Checking reference lists of identified articles and documents
Why is it important?
- Not all databases index items comprehensively. This may be because not all information is included in records or because not all content of the journal is indexed.
- Searches may not be comprehensive enough or may not include relevant key terms.
- Authors may not have described articles accurately with key terms used.
- Allows more detailed scanning of key journals and other sources.
- Some sources are not included in traditional databases.
- Ensures that relevant studies are not overlooked.
The Cochrane Training link below provides further information on handsearching.
