Searching effectively for the evidence
Learn how to turn a clinical question into an effective search strategy to find high quality evidence, particularly in databases.
4. Refining your search
4.2. Filters (part 2)
Your filtered results would probably have looked something like this
As you can see filters allow us to easily narrow down a search to make it really specific to our needs. You probably use filters on a regular basis, perhaps if you're shopping online or booking a holiday. Publication type filters are particularly useful when we're talking about searching for evidence. You want to be looking for the best type of evidence to answer your question, for example systematic reviews or randomised controlled trials for a therapy question. You can apply the relevant filters, where available, to easily narrow down your results just to those specific types of study.
Watch this short video on using the filters in PubMed
