In Section 3.1, we mentioned the importance of putting together a "gold set" of a few key articles before you start your thorough. These key articles can now be used to test your search strategy. 

Check your results list to confirm whether your gold set articles are included. If not, this could indicate an issue with your search strategy. Ensure that the articles are published in journals indexed by the databases you're using, and then review your approach. Consider the following:

• Have you searched the most appropriate databases for your topic?
• Have you checked for spelling mistakes or typos?
• Have you used a comprehensive list of search terms that align with your search framework (e.g., PICO)?
• Have you included thesaurus terms or subject headings specific to each database?
• Are your search combinations (AND, OR) used correctly?
• Have you added any new terms discovered during your search to all relevant database searches?

The PRESS Checklist for reviewing search strategies has been developed by the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) and is a handy guide to making sure you haven't overlooked any of these steps.

If you have saved your searches as suggested at the top of this page, it will be easy to re-run them when you need to update your review.

Some databases also allow you to set an alert for your search strategy so you can be emailed periodically when any new articles are added to the database. Major journals in your field will usually have provision to email tables of contents for each new issue as it's published.

Have a look at our Keep up to date with literature page for some ideas on how to set up Tables of Contents and Search Alerts.