Efficient literature searching in diffuse topics: lessons from a systematic review of research on communicating risk to patients in primary care

Using the example of communication about risk in a primary care setting, this paper puts forward a method of developing and evaluating a detailed search strategy for locating the literature for a systematic review of a ‘diffuse’ subject. The aim of this paper is to show how to develop a search strategy that maximizes both recall and precision while keeping search outputs manageable. Six different databases were used, namely Medline, Embase, PsychLIT, CancerLIT, Cinahl and Social Science Citation Index (SSCI). The searches were augmented by hand-searching, contacting authors, citation searching and reference lists from included papers. Other databases were searched but yielded no extra references for this subject matter. Of the 99 papers included, 80 were indexed on Medline. The Medline search strategy identified 54 of them and the remaining 26 were located on other databases. The 19 further unique references were found using the other databases and methods of retrieval. A combination of several databases must be used to maximize recall and to increase the precision of searches on individual databases, thus improving the overall efficiency of the search.     

Literature searching for social science systematic reviews: consideration of a range of search techniques

Background: Literature for a systematic review on the student experience of e‐learning is located across a range of subject areas including health, education, social science, library and information science. Objectives: To assess the merits and shortcomings of using different search techniques in retrieval of evidence in the social science literature. Methods: A conventional subject search was undertaken as the principal method of identifying the literature for the review. Four supplementary search methods were used including citation searching, reference list checking, contact with experts and pearl growing. Results: The conventional subject search identified 30 of 41 included references; retrieved from 10 different databases. References were missed by this method and a further 11 references were identified via citation searching, reference list checking and contact with experts. Pearl growing was suspended as the nominated pearls were dispersed across numerous databases, with no single database indexing more than four pearls. Conclusions: Searching within the social sciences literature requires careful consideration. Conventional subject searching identified the majority of references, but additional search techniques were essential and located further high quality references.     

Will Web Search Engines Replace Bibliographic Databases in the Systematic Identification of Research?

The availability of web search engines offers opportunities in addition to those provided by bibliographic databases for identifying academic literature, but their usefulness for retrieving research is uncertain. A rigorous literature search was undertaken to investigate whether web search engines might replace bibliographic databases, using empirical research in health and social care as a case study. Eight databases and five web search engines were searched between 20 July and 6 August 2015. Sixteen unique studies which compared at least one database with at least one web search engine were examined, as well as drawing lessons from the authors’ own search process. Web search engines were limited in that the searcher cannot be certain that the principles of Boolean logic apply and they were more limited than bibliographic databases in their functions, such as exporting abstracts. Recommendations are made for improving the rigour and quality of reporting studies of academic literature searching.     

Credit where credit's due: plagiarism screening in scholarly publishing

Plagiarism is not a new problem in academic publishing, but in the age of the Internet and digital publishing it would appear that it may be a growing one. Not only is there more literature available, but it has never been easier to search online databases, publisher websites, and institutional repositories. And as the content and its availability grows, so the ability of the reviewer to have read everything in their field diminishes, and detecting unoriginal content becomes harder. In response to this problem, CrossRef has launched CrossCheck ( http://www.crossref.org/crosscheck.html ), a plagiarism detection service for scholarly publishers.     

低重复率稿件中的学术不端行为检测与防范

重复率低却存在抄袭的稿件,其原因可能为单一的检测系统存在漏洞,新发表的论文上传数据库存在时间差,作者对稿件的有意识“修饰”,以及网络时代造假手段多样化.为此,文中提出以下措施:使用多种数据库进行文字检测,从查重报告中发现问题,建立有效的审稿专家数据库、网站教育和警示,充分利用网络资源,加快稿件处理进程,增强编辑的责任意识等,以利于更好地防范学术不端行为.     

An Empirical Research Study of the Efficacy of Two Plagiarism-Detection Applications

This article describes a study of the two most popular plagiarism-detection software platforms available on today's market—Turnitin (http://www.turnitin.com/static/index.html) and SafeAssign (http://www.safeassign.com/). After a brief discussion of plagiarism's relevance to librarians, the authors examine plagiarism-detection methodology and conduct a review of the current literature regarding plagiarism-detection efficacy. To evaluate detection efficacy for Turnitin and SafeAssign, the authors constructed a brief study in which twenty sample papers containing portions of plagiarized material were submitted to each platform. The results show that Turnitin had the highest overall success at plagiarism detection with an 82.4 percent detection rate. Additionally, both platforms had a combined false-positive detection rate of 16.8 percent. The authors conclude that close review of material suspected of plagiarism is still essential for proper identification.     

异构电子资源统一检索协议*

大规模分布式异构数据库的互连互检是数据库应用领域急需解决的问题，本文从制定标准化协议入手，提出了一个解决此问题的有效方法。协议分为两个部分，第一部分从分析现有的各种元数据标准和数据库入手，给出了一个标准化检索服务，各个数据库均可依据此标准服务发布统一的检索服务。第二部分对现有的UDDI标准进行了一定的扩展，提出了一种发现和选择信息检索服务的方法。     

学术文献抄袭检测研究进展

指出近年来,学术抄袭事件时有发生,科研诚信引起全社会的广泛关注。随着信息技术的发展,对于学术抄袭的的检验问题已不再停留在传统的"防止复制"阶段。总结整理目前国内外主要抄袭检验的研究内容和研究方法,重点对基于统计的方法和基于数字指纹的方法进行总结,归纳目前抄袭检验技术应用的主要数学算法和各自特点。通过对国内外研究成果的梳理,指出抄袭检验技术存在的不足及未来发展趋势和应用领域。     

Sources of information on adverse effects: a systematic review

Background: Systematic reviews can provide accurate and timely information on adverse effects. An essential part of the systematic review process is a thorough search of the literature. This often requires searching many different sources. However, it is unclear which sources are most effective at providing information on adverse effects. Objective: To identify and summarise studies that have evaluated sources of information on adverse effects. Methods: Studies were located by searching in 10 databases as well as by reference checking, hand searching, citation searching and contacting experts. Results: A total of 6218 citations were retrieved yielding 19 studies which met the inclusion criteria. The included studies tended to focus on the adverse effects of drug interventions and compare the relative value of different sources using the number of relevant references retrieved from searches of each source. However, few studies were conducted recently with a large sample of references. Conclusions: This review suggests that embase , Derwent Drug File, medline and industry submissions may potentially provide the greatest number of relevant references for information on adverse effects of drugs. However, a systematic evaluation of the current value of different sources of information for adverse effects is urgently required.     

Attitudes of researchers towards plagiarism: A study on a tertiary care hospital in Riyadh,Saudi Arabia

Plagiarism is one of the most common research misconducts and has many negative consequences. It can potentially destroy the reputation of an institution. Only a few studies have explored plagiarism in Saudi Arabia, and these have focused on academic institutions. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the attitudes of researchers towards plagiarism at a tertiary care hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, using the established Attitudes Towards Plagiarism questionnaire. The questionnaire contains demographic data along with 29 statements divided into three sections: positive attitude towards plagiarism, which reflects the approval and acceptance of plagiarism (12 items); negative attitude towards plagiarism, which reflects deprecation and condemnation of plagiarism (7 items); and subjective norms towards plagiarism, which reflects personal perception of the extent and acceptance of plagiarism in society (10 items). Responses were collected from 237 participants. The overall attitudes of researchers showed a disapproval for plagiarism in medical research but also revealed some ambiguity about self‐plagiarism and a belief that others were more likely to plagiarize than the respondent. Our findings suggest that awareness about different forms of plagiarism among researchers should be increased. We recommend that researchers' attitudes towards plagiarism should be investigated further in a rigorous association study.     

Accessing Ethnic Group Information on CD-ROM:

The reference librarian in academic libraries today is often challenged by the demand from patrons for information on ethnic groups from a variety of disciplines. Questions on the four "mega" ethnic groups (African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans) are common. In addition, depending on the community in which the academic library resides, one or more ethnic groups will be emphasized. Automated indexes (particularly CD-ROM and online databases) can greatly facilitate the search for information in ethnic studies. Yet each electronic index has its own unique structure, indexing, and search protocol. The reference librarian should be attuned to the variation in ethnic group terminology and indexing in these and other resouces in order to maximize retrieval of references. To illustrate this point, an example of indexing and usage of terms related to Southeast Asians in four separate CD-ROM databases is presented.     

基于模糊综合评判的中文社科图书“核心作者”决策研究

构建以核心作者为主要订购依据的中文社科图书采访决策系统, 通过统一搜索方法,实现从CNKI、维普、万方三大中文期刊数据库中抽取数据、分析整合,并根据该作者于某领域的发文量、h指数和主题研究连续数,以模糊综合评判法来确定该待选图书的作者是否为该领域核心作者,从而构建出具有普适意义的中文社科图书引进过程中“核心作者”决策系统,以进一步提升订购质量,并力图克服中文社科图书采访工作中因采访人员的知识局限性和读者推荐的随意性而造成的专业图书馆藏缺乏系统性建设的局面。     

Cyberplagiarism and the Library

Summary

Plagiarism by students in academic institutions is an old but continuing problem facing teachers and librarians. Although studies disagree on the Internet's effect on student plagiarism, the easy availability of electronic information creates a challenge for librarians, who must be ready not only to detect and deter plagiarism, but also to educate their patrons about it. The purpose of this contribution is to summarize briefly the nature, extent, and causes of plagiarism in its academic aspect, especially as it has been influenced by electronic information sources, and to review measures of its detection and deterrence.     

Creating local bibliographic databases: new tools for evidence-based health care

The Internet has created new opportunities for librarians to present literature search results to clinicians. In order to take full advantage of these opportunities, libraries need to create locally maintained bibliographic databases. A simple method of creating a local bibliographic database and publishing it on the Web is described. The method uses off-the-shelf software and requires minimal programming. A hedge search strategy for outcome studies of clinical process interventions is created, and Ovid is used to search MEDLINE. The search results are saved and imported into EndNote libraries. The citations are modified, exported to a Microsoft Access database, and published on the Web. Clinicians can use a Web browser to search the database. The bibliographic database contains 13,803 MEDLINE citations of outcome studies. Most searches take between four and ten seconds and retrieve between ten and 100 citations. The entire cost of the software is under $900. Locally maintained bibliographic databases can be created easily and inexpensively. They significantly extend the evidence-based health care services that libraries can offer to clinicians.     

Database trial impact on graduate nursing comprehensive exams

While the authors were doing a test period of databases, the question of whether or not databases affect outcomes of graduate nursing comprehensive examinations came up. This study explored that question through using citation analysis of exams that were taken during a database trial and exams that were not. The findings showed no difference in examination pass/fail rates. While the pass/fail rates did not change, a great deal was learned in terms of citation accuracy and types of materials that students used, leading to discussions about changing how citation and plagiarism awareness were taught.     

畸形的著述文化——中国古代剽窃现象面面观

剽窃作为一种客观的著述文化现象,在中国有着悠久的历史。本文以历史时序为线索,对中国古代剽窃的发展源流作了纵向梳理,并对古人对于剽窃现象的反应及态度作了深入剖析,指出剽窃与代著、作伪、盗版等出版活动一样,是孕育中国古代著作权关系的重要因素之一。     

Deconstructing Plagiarism: International Students and Textual Borrowing Practices

This article reviews studies from various disciplines on plagiarism as a cross-cultural issue and examines cultural, educational, and linguistic factors that may influence the textual borrowing practices of international students. The reasons international students may employ inappropriate source use are complex and attempts to address and combat plagiarism in higher education must take into account multiple factors. Recommendations are made for ways in which academic libraries can assist international students with understanding plagiarism through orientations, instruction, reference service, and web-based guides and tutorials.     

彻查科技论文学术不端的编辑策略

针对不良学术道德行为在科技期刊中的表现,以天津大学期刊中心的实践提出了彻查科技论文学术不端的编辑策略。对于科技论文首先利用CNKI、CrossCheck剽窃检测器检测,然后寻找线索利用网络数据库查询。为弥补剽窃检测器和数据库查询的不足,还需进行网络深度排查。对检测结果,编辑需要进行深入分析,作出正确判断。     

多语种多数据库中草药检索系统

随着互联网络的发展，网上的资源越来越多，各开放式的数据库也不断出现，为使用户能更好地使用网络资源，有几百个搜索引擎在Internet上服务于用户。然而，搜索引擎只能实现对页面的搜索，不能实现对数据库内部的搜索，而后者又是目前人们关注的问题。另外，Internet的用户遍布全世界，所使用的语言各不相同，实现对多语种数据的检索亦是IT界人士研究的问题。本文以中草药数据为基础，通过建立一个多语种的词表实现多语种的检索，以及建立一套URL命令集实现了对多个风格不同的数据库进行检索、连接的问题。     

Identifying the effective evidence sources to use in developing Clinical Guidelines for Acute Stroke Management: lived experiences of the search specialist and project manager

Background: The Australian National Stroke Foundation appointed a search specialist to find the best available evidence for the second edition of its Clinical Guidelines for Acute Stroke Management. Objective: To identify the relative effectiveness of differing evidence sources for the guideline update. Methods: We searched and reviewed references from five valid evidence sources for clinical and economic questions: (i) electronic databases; (ii) reference lists of relevant systematic reviews, guidelines, and/or primary studies; (iii) table of contents of a number of key journals for the last 6 months; (iv) internet/grey literature; and (v) experts. Reference sources were recorded, quantified, and analysed. Results: In the clinical portion of the guidelines document, there was a greater use of previous knowledge and sources other than electronic databases for evidence, while there was a greater use of electronic databases for the economic section. Conclusions: The results confirmed that searchers need to be aware of the context and range of sources for evidence searches. For best available evidence, searchers cannot rely solely on electronic databases and need to encompass many different media and sources.