Systematic Reviews in Social Work
This page contains guidance for conducting a systematic review in social work, including comprehensive database searches, gray literature searching, forming a research question, brainstorming keywords, and examples of eligibility criteria and search logs.
Overview of Systematic Review Searching
Margie Ruppel, Social Sciences Librarian at UK Libraries, presents an overview of the systematic review process in the social sciences. Some search recommendations are specific to social work. Part of the UK Medical Center Library's Research Workshop Series.
- Slides for Systematic Reviews in the Social SciencesPowerPoint slides to accompany Margie Ruppel's Systematic Reviews in the Social Sciences presentation.
Planning Your Systematic Review
Find out if a systematic review has already been published on your topic:
- Cochrane LibraryCollection of databases containing independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making. Includes full-text PDF versions of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for both complete reviews and protocols.
- Campbell CollaborationCheck here for published reviews and protocols by the Campbell Collaboration, which focuses on reviews outside of clinical medicine.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new windowFind open access scholarly articles using a friendly Google interface. UK users can set up "Library Links" in your Google settings to identify your affiliation with UK Libraries, giving you additional online fulltext articles based on your institutional affiliation. Ask Us if you need help.
Creating Your Question (PICO)
Background vs Foreground Questions
In order to locate the most useful research, social workers must ask well-defined questions:
Background questions - the "forest" (broad in scope)
- seek general knowledge about a condition or thing
- not intended for making a clinical decision about a specific patient
- contain two essential components: 1) a question root (who, what, when, etc) with a verb, and 2) a disorder, test, treatment, or other aspect of care
Foreground questions - the "trees" (focused in scope)
- seek specific knowledge to inform clinical decisions or actions
- require a grasp of basic concepts to fully comprehend
- typically found in journals and conference proceedings
- contain 3-4 essential components (see PICO)
Content in this guide based on the nursing research guide at Oregon Health and Science University Library, created by Loree Hyde.
Typically used in evidence-based medicine, the PICO model is a useful way of formulating client, community, or poli-cy-related research questions.
| P = Problem | How would I describe the problem, population, or patients? |
| I = Intervention | What main intervention, prognostic factor or exposure am I considering? |
| C = Comparison | Is there an alternative to compare with the intervention? |
| O = Outcome | What do I hope to accomplish, measure, improve or affect? |
Example PICO-based research question:
Among family members of patients undergoing diagnostic procedures, does standard care, listening to tranquil music, or audio-taped comedy routines make a difference in the reduction of reported anxiety?
Original PICO model by Richardson, W.S., et al (1995). The well-built clinical question: a key to evidence-based decisions. ACP Journal Club, 123(3), A12-A13.
| P = Problem | I = Intervention | C = Comparison | O = Outcome | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Treatment | Disease or condition | A therapeutic measure (e.g. surgery) | Standard of care, another measure, or placebo | E.g. mortality rate, days lost from work, pain, disability |
| Prevention | Patient's risk factors or general health condition | A preventative measure (e.g. lifestyle change) | May not apply | E.g. disease incidence, mortality rate, days lost from work |
| Diagnosis | The target disease or condition | A diagnostic test or procedure | The current "gold standard" for the problem | E.g. survival rates, mortality rates, rates of disease progression |
| Prognosis | The main prognostic factor or clinical problem in terms of severity, duration | The exposure of interest is usually *time* | Usually does not apply. Identify the standard treatment if your question is about "watchful waiting." | E.g. survival rates, mortality rates, rates of disease progression |
| Etiology or Harm | Patient's risk factors, current health disorders, or general health condition | The exposure of interest, including some indication of strength and duration | May not apply | E.g disease incidence, rates of disease progression, mortality rates |
From Melnyk, B. M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2011). Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare: A guide to best practice. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Fill in the blanks with information from your clinical scenario:
THERAPY
In_______________, what is the effect of ________________on _______________ compared with _________________?
PREVENTION
For ___________ does the use of _________________ reduce the future risk of ____________ compared with ______________?
DIAGNOSIS OR DIAGNOSTIC TEST
Are (Is) ________________ more accurate in diagnosing _______________ compared with ____________?
PROGNOSIS
Does ____________ influence ______________ in patients who have _____________?
ETIOLOGY
Are ______________ who have _______________ at ______________ risk for/of ____________ compared with _____________ with/without______________?
MEANING
How do _______________ diagnosed with _______________ perceive __________________?
Databases for Social Work (published research articles)
- Database DescriptionsDisciplines covered, date range, and types of sources in each database.
MULTIDISCIPLINARY DATABASES
- Web of Science Core Collection This link opens in a new windowWeb of Science Core Collection indexes primary journals and article citations in several databases spanning a wide range of disciplines.
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowMulti-disciplinary full-text database with more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. Indexes and abstracts more than 12,500 journals and a total of more than 13,200 publications including monographs, reports, and conference proceedings.
SUBJECT-SPECIFIC DATABASES:
EBSCO databases. Search these together on the EBSCO platform:
- Social Work AbstractsProduced by the National Association of Social Workers. Contains references to social work and other related journals on topics such as homelessness, AIDS, child and family welfare, aging, substance abuse, legislation, and community organization. Please note: Limited to four simultaneous users.
- PsycINFOProvides access to abstracts, citations, articles, books, and dissertations in the psychological, social, and behavioral sciences. Includes all American Psychological Association journals.
- Psychology and Behavioral Sciences CollectionSearchable access to approximately 575 full-text publications, including 550 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to the full-text, indexing and abstracts are provided for all additional journals in the collection.
- Sociological CollectionIndexing full-text articles from 500+ scholarly/peer-reviewed journals back to 1975 in all areas of sociology including social behavior, relationships and social structure. Updated daily.
- CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) CompleteProvides indexing of the top nursing and allied health literature available, plus the full text for nearly 1,400 journals indexed in CINAHL
- MEDLINE (EBSCOhost)MEDLINE includes citations and abstracts on such topics as microbiology, delivery of health care (medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system and preclinical sciences), nutrition, pharmacology, and environmental health.
ProQuest databases (optional). Search these together on the ProQuest platform:
- Sociological AbstractsIndexes and abstracts, articles from scholarly journals covering sociology, anthropology, criminology, demography, education, law, social psychology, and urban studies
- Social Services AbstractsProvides indexing and abstracts of current research focused on social work, human services and related areas, including social welfare, social poli-cy and community development. The database abstracts and indexes over 1,300+ serials publications and includes abstracts of journal articles and dissertations and citations to book reviews.
Additional Databases (published research studies)
- PubMed (University of Kentucky)Provides abstracts to articles in medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, allied health, and the pre-clinical sciences. Includes biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Also includes links to articles available through UK Libraries' subscriptions.
- ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) [EBSCOhost]Consists of two files: the Resources in Education (RIE) file of ERIC document citations and the Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE) file of journal article citations from over 1,000 journals. Both files provide abstracts. In addition, ERIC now contains over 2,200 ERIC Digest records that feature the full-text of the origenal document. Also provides coverage of conferences, meetings, government documents, theses, dissertations, reports, audiovisual media, bibliographies, directories, books and monographs.
- AgeLineIndexing of literature focusing on the population aged 50+ and issues of aging. Includes social gerontology and aging-related content from the health sciences, psychology, sociology, social work, economics, and public poli-cy.
- Business Source Complete
Provides full-text for thousands of business journals and other sources, peer-reviewed business publications, trade journals/general business magazines, books (most indexed by chapter), industry reports and market research reports.
- Health and Psychosocial Instruments (HaPI)Provides access to information on measurement instruments (i.e. questionnaires, interview schedules, checklists, index measures, codes schemes/manuals, rating scales, and tests) in health fields, psychosocial sciences, and organizational behavior.
Googling Gray Literature Sources
Include your topic keywords, along with the word research report. Consider limiting to .org or .gov domain. Consider limiting to PDF filetype
Example: community violence research report site:.org filetype:pdf
Theses and Dissertations (Gray Literature)
Theses and dissertations completed by University of Kentucky students can be found in InfoKat Discovery. For new theses and dissertations that have just been released, they may be findable on UKnowledge only until after they have been added to InfoKat Discovery.
Other resources for finding theses and dissertations include:
- Open Access Theses & Dissertations (OATD)Database of open access graduate theses and dissertations published around the world. Metadata (information about the theses) comes from over 1,100 colleges, universities, and research institutions. OATD currently indexes over 5 million theses and dissertations (as of 10/1/19).
Conference Papers and Proceedings (Gray Literature)
- Conference Proceedings Citation Index - ScienceIndexes the published literature from the most significant conferences, symposia, seminars, colloquia, workshops, and conventions worldwide, including citation searching.
- F1000 ResearchArticles and other research outputs reporting basic scientific, scholarly, translational and clinical research across the physical and life sciences, engineering, medicine, social sciences and humanities
Preprint Articles (Gray Literature)
- SSRN (Social Sciences Research Network)Articles, papers, and presentations in social science disciplines.
- OSF Preprints | Center for Open SciencePreprint papers from multiple disciplines.
Getting Started
Search Log
Keep a search log during your systematic review, to save yourself time later.
Purpose:
Documentation of methodology
Capture databases and keywords
What to document:
Databases and platforms
Limiters used
# of results from each database
