# How to write a search strategy

A search strategy is the databases, the date, and the exact string. A box of keywords is not a strategy.

List the concepts from the question. Add the synonyms. Name the indexes. For a biomedical question, PubMed with MeSH is still the index you name. Save the string and the date. A review that cannot show the search cannot be checked.

## Steps

1. **List the concepts.** One column per part of the question.

2. **Add synonyms.** The word in your head is not the word in the abstract.

3. **Name the indexes.** PubMed for clinical. OpenAlex for the wider set. Do not write the internet.

4. **Save the string.** Date, database, and the exact string. You will need this for the flow diagram.

## ScholarIQ at this step

ScholarIQ searches OpenAlex, ORCID and PubMed from the question. You can also upload a file from a database you already searched. It does not replace a named protocol database.

## How long does this take for one person?

Count the records first. A search strategy is the databases, the date, and the exact string. A box of keywords is not a strategy. The time follows the count, not the size of a team.

## What do I write down before I stop?

The rule, the date, and the count. List the concepts from the question. Add the synonyms. Name the indexes. For a biomedical question, PubMed with MeSH is still the index you name. Save the string and the date. A review that cannot show the search cannot be checked.

## Do I need a second reviewer?

Not to start. ScholarIQ does not score a second reviewer. If the protocol asks for dual review, a second person sees the same record.

## What is the usual error?

A file with no reason. List the concepts from the question. Add the synonyms. Name the indexes. For a biomedical question, PubMed with MeSH is still the index you name. Save the string and the date. A review that cannot show the search cannot be checked.

## How do I know this step is done?

The count matches the records. If a flow-diagram box would not match, the step is not done.

## What goes in the methods?

The rule, the date, and the count. A reader must be able to open the same record.

## Can I skip this step?

No, if you will call the work a systematic review. If you skip it, write what you did. Do not hide the gap.

## What if I cannot finish?

Stop. Write how far you got. Records you did not screen are not exclusions.

## What does a supervisor check?

The rule, a sample of decisions, and the passage.

## What is outside this step?

A guideline panel, a CRO, and a GRADE meeting. ScholarIQ searches OpenAlex, ORCID and PubMed from the question. You can also upload a file from a database you already searched. It does not replace a named protocol database.