Searching systematically: ACQUIRE - Selecting your sources

Information is published in a variety of sources including:

• Journals
• Books
• Databases (Medline, CINAHL, PscyINFO, Embase, ERIC, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, etc.)
• Grey literature (Conference proceedings, Government Publications, Reports, Bulletins, Pamphlets, Dissertations)
• Websites
• Social Media
• Images/Film/Video

Resources can consist of different types of information:

• Clinical guidelines : NCEC (Ireland), (NICE (UK), WHO, 
• Systematic reviews : Cochrane Library, Campbell Collaboration
• Qualitative research
• Clinical Trials : US. Clinical Trials.gov, European Union Clinical Trials Register, ISRCTN registry

Some sources such as PubMed, Embase, Web of Science will provide access to a wide range of information types. While others such as Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Trials registers, NICE Guidelines (UK) provide access to a specific type of information.

"Grey literature is usually understood to mean literature that is not formally published in sources such as books or journal articles" (Lefebvre et al. 2011, section 6.2.1.8)

Health research

•  LENUS- www.lenus.ie
• The Grey Literature Report - Public Health Research

Duke University Medical Center Library & Archives, Grey Literature   http://guides.mclibrary.duke.edu/greyliterature

Dissertations and Theses

•   ULIR- http://ulir.ul.ie
•   RIAN -RIAN.ie
•   DART-Europe E-theses portal 

Science, Technology, Humanities 

•   OpenGrey- www.opengrey.eu

Hand searching is searching through medical journals or conference abstract proceedings for reports of research which are not indexed in the major electronic databases like MEDLINE and Embase.

Hand searching involves finding articles that cited a key article and also screening the reference lists of key articles.