Embase at UAB Libraries: Systematic Reviews

This tutorial explains the PICO framework for designing a search, gives detailed information on using Emtree as well as free-text searching, and shows you how to combine search sets on the Results page. 

The handout below covers structuring your search, using study-type hedges, searching with preferred terms and synonyms, and other tips for performing a systematic review using Embase.

Several of the resources on this page include information on hedges. Hedges are standardized search strategies you can copy and paste into a search engine.

This page lists some hedges you may find useful in your systematic review search strategy.

Several webinars and tutorials related to systematic review searching in Embase are available:

• ​Creating an optimal syntax in embase.com. Wichor Bramer, biomedical information specialist at Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, demonstrates his unique method using Embase to create exhaustive and high quality searches in a much shorter time than usual.
• Systematic searching in Embase: using PICO to identify relevant results. Xuanyan Xu, Embase Solution Marketing Manager, explains the concepts that form a PICO search strategy and how to use the PICO search form to build effective searches .

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