Clinical Study Types - for Librarians

Medical research librarians are asked to find clinical trials (for example, when constructing the search strategy for a systematic review) but often not provided with guidance on how to do so.  This guide will:

• provide a modifiable PubMed search string to find each specific type of trial * 
• define each type of clinical trial, including 
  • definitions from several sources
  • easy-to-understand examples
  • examples from the literature
• provide hints on how to locate them

*While we provide search strings, it is important to point out that these search strings have not been validated.  They are a compilation of appropriate MeSH terms and keywords, as suggested by:

• hedges (pre-defined search strings) created to locate these studies
• definitions of the study type

This guide will NOT provide information on:

• how to conduct a clinical trial
• how to evaluate trials (ie risk of bias)

Comments? Questions?  We'd love to hear them!  Send your thoughts to my email address:  jennifer_westrick@rush.edu