A systematic literature search is a structured, comprehensive and transparent process of identifying all relevant studies dealing with a specific research question or topic without arbitrary exclusions. It is the backbone of a systematic review providing its evidence base. Without a well-executed search, the systematic review cannot fulfil its purpose of providing an unbiased synthesis of all available evidence on a topic and possible gaps in literature.
The process typically starts with the development of a research question or the definition of a topic. For this, AI research assistants are a good aide as they provide reasonable insights from simple natural language input. They often produce summaries using adequate terminology, some key references, topic experts and concept maps, all being very helpful for the subsequent development of a detailed search strategy., i.e. the choice of suitable databases, the determination of underlying concepts, keywords, synonyms and related terms, and the development of search strings combining all the terms by Boolean principles.
Systematic searches generally need to be protocolled for reproducibility and transparency. They often culminate in a written document, e.g. a research proposal or the introductory section of a thesis or an original research paper, putting own research into the perspective of the current state-of-the-art. Depending on the ultimate goal, steps involved and levels of rigour can vary, being highest for the preparation of a dedicated systematic review article and somewhat lower for a narrative review.
