I am struggling to find randomised controlled trials covering my thesis topic. Can you suggest some search terms which I can use?
Searching for specific publication types can be tricky because not all databases index records by their publication type. Some database platforms such as Ovid do allow you to select specific publication types from the Additional Limits option. However, their lists of publication types are slightly different depending on the database you are looking at. For example, Embase and Medline allow you to select randomised controlled trials, whereas PsycInfo and EBM Reviews do not give that option.
(To search for publication types in the Ovid databases you need to click on Limits, then Additional Limits.)
It is possible to search for a publication type by keyword. However, this method is not very reliable because some databases will treat the words that you type as search words rather than a publication type.
Generally, we do not recommend that you try to search by publication type because you can miss articles that have not been categorised by a single publication type.
You may have seen the online resources on the Systematic Review Guide and the Specialist Library Support pages for Advanced Searching. These pages give guidance on many of the medical and human sciences database platforms and help with starting your research.
