Criminology

Systematic search

A structured and thorough literature search is an essential part of a systematic review. The search should be exhaustive, covering as many known terms for a specific topic as possible, not to miss any relevant studies. The search should be conducted in several databases as well transparently documented and reported. In addition, supplementary search methods, such as forward and backward chaining might find studies not retrieved through the database searches.

Research question - using a question framework

PEO

PEO

Research question:

Experiences of partner violence during pregnancy

PICO

Research question:

The effect of cognitive behavioral therapy for men committing partner violence

Search terms - using a question framework

Using a question framework like PICO or PEO helps you structure the search in different search blocks, making it easier to create a comprehensive yet precise and balanced search strategy.

PEO

Research question:

Experiences of partner violence in pregnancy

PICO

Research question:

The effect of cognitive behavioral therapy for men committing partner violence

Building your search block strategy

When you have formulated your research question and identified your key concepts, the next step is to build your search block strategy. In the example below we have three search blocks to be combined.

Research question

Experiences of partner violence during pregnancy

We seaech the synonyms with OR and coombine the search blocks into our full search strategy with AND. We also use search techniques such as phrase searching and truncation to search efficiently.

Identify and refine your key search terms

Searching articles is an iterative process where you choose initial search terms for scoping searches, then refining the search terms until you have your final search strategy.

Using database records to develop your search strategy

When deciding on your final search terms you can use the database records for studies you have already identified as relevant through your scoping search.

• Search for the study in a database, click on it and have a look at the words used in the title, abstract, keywords and subject headings.
• Document all the new search terms and try them in new scoping searches.
• Add relevant new search terms to your own search strategy and repeat the search.

Doing this for a number of relevant studies can help you build your search strategy. Using the same vocabulary as the researchers are using in the title and abstract and the same vocabulary as the different databases are using when idexing their records (subject terms) will greatly improve your search strategy.

Complementary searches - citation chaining

Citation chaining, or snowballing, is a search method where you look at the bibliographies of key articles to find other related articles. The articles retrieved this way might not have been retrieved in your database searches, making it a complementary search method. There are two main types of citation chaining, backward chaining and forward chaining.

Backward & forward chaining

• Backward chaining finds earlier research on your topic. Check the reference lists of key sources, to see which works they have cited.
• Forward chaining finds more updated research on your topic. Check citations for key sources to see which works that have cited them. This works best for articles that are a few years old, as they are more likely to have been cited than newer ones.

Forward chaining in Criminology Collection

Forward chaining in Web of Science

Forward chaining in Google Scholar

You can also use Google Scholar to do forward chaining, search for the title and click "Cited by..." to get a list of other articles where the authors have cited the article you're looking at.