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
