You will need to carefully record your search strategy to ensure it is reproducible and verifiable, especially for publication.

How? For each search record:

• the name of the database,
• the years covered,
• the date you searched,
• your exact search strategy, including all the terms you have used and
• Number and kinds of studies selected (quantitative/qualitative).

One way to record your searches is to save the search history from each database. To do this you will need to create an account with the database provider - select My Account (in Ovid databases), Sign In (EBSCOhost or Proquest) or Register (Web of Science).

Here's an example of a saved search: Date: 19 October, 2023. Database: Ovid MEDLINE 2014 to Present;

This can also be expressed in a linear way:

((aged OR elderly OR frail).ti.ab.OR exp Health Services for the Aged/ OR exp Homes for the Aged/ OR exp Nursing Homes/ OR exp Geriatric Nursing/ OR exp Aged) AND (cranberr*.ti, ab. OR Vaccinium macrocarpon/) AND ((uti OR "urinary tract infection*").ti, ab. OR Urinary Tract Infections/)

• You will most likely have to go back and refine your searches as new terms and subject headings present themselves as you go on.
• And then you will need to translate your search into other databases,taking into account the unique language of each database - what symbols are used for truncation, wildcards, and so on, and the thesauri terms if applicable.
• You should apply your main limits at the end of your search (language, date of publication, publication type).

Resources that might help you documenting your search(es):

• You may be required to follow the PRISMA for Searching checklist or to record your search results on a PRISMA Flow Diagram.
• The Cochrane Library has a handy Database Syntax Guide which summarises the particular languages of the major databases and platforms.
• For some great examples of how to record your search framework and search strategy across various disciplines and databases, see  Foster, M. J., & Jewell, S. T. (2017). Identifying the studies: Case studies. In M. J. Foster & S. T. Jewell (Eds.), Assembling the pieces of a systematic review: A guide for librarians (pp. 99-123). Rowman & Littlefield. And Levay, P., Craven, J., & Barrett, E. (2022). Case studies. In S. T. Jewell & M. J. Foster (Eds.), Piecing together systematic reviews and other evidence synthesis (pp.143-70). Rowman & Littlefield. Highly recommended!