Finding the Evidence Through Searching the Literature

When seeking answers to clinical questions,Clinical question surgeons have identified a number of barriers including lack of time, challenges using the resources, volume of researchResearch available, and lack of question urgency. Developing effective and efficient search strategies is thus a critical skill. This chapter describes the core principles and skills for developing simple and complex search strategies: identifying concepts and search terms, combining concepts and terms using Boolean operatorsBoolean operators, refining searches to exclude unwanted results, and choosing an appropriate resource. The application of these principles can help surgeons overcome identified barriers to searchingSearching for the evidenceEvidence.