Focused Searches on OvidGO! are designed to make database searches discoverable, accessible and actionable.
For more information, check our FAQ. If your question is not addressed there, please do not hesitate to contact us.
How to use an economics evaluation search filter, designed for Embase on Ovid, in the context of HTA dossier construction. (*)
Embase on Ovid <1974 to Present>
Ovid Training Team
2025-08-14
Search Filters
Many of the searches on OvidGO! / Focused Searches employ the PICO approach, where P stands for population or patient group, I for intervention, C for a comparator and O for outcome or outcomes, to search systematically for studies relating to the efficacy or otherwise, of a specified medical intervention. Such interventions or medicinal products, can be drug-based, device-based, a mixture of both as well as public health policy related interventions.
Generally speaking, for such medicinal products to be approved by the national healthcare system; in terms of safe use, value for money and hence funding, the medicinal product in question usually undergoes a health technology assessment (HTA). The overall responsibility of national healthcare authorities, an HTA for a medicinal product submitted by a Health Technology Developer (HTD) is carried out by mandated public authorities, referred to as Health Technology Agencies or by organisations appointed by them or the national healthcare authority.
Across countries and regions, the provision of healthcare, its means of funding, the pertinent legal and regulatory frameworks that embrace it, as well as the ethical and social norms that percolate through it, all differ widely. This has practical consequences for the cross-border sharing of scientific and clinical information that produced for medicinal products in one country, may be beneficial to patients in another.
Over the past two decades the European Union has sought to address this problem through regulatory initiatives. The resulting legislative acts, enacted some years back, now apply from 12th January 2025. The 2021 EU HTA Regulation (HTAR) (see References below, Ref. 1) constitutes a major milestone. The HTAR establishes a regulatory framework throughout the European Economic Area (EER) whereby local Member State national healthcare authorities are still the primary authority over HTA decision making, but that certain (and key) sources of evidence can be shared.
These key sources of evidence are the joint clinical assessment (JCA) and the joint scientific consultation (JSC). This has the practical effect that for example, a drug therapy being assessed for deployment in Germany, can be run through the German AMNOG assessment system but also draw upon clinical evaluation studies from France or Italy etc.. And even the UK and USA where relevant. The latter also possible because the legislation sees the sharing of information not only across the EEA, but also through the observation of established evidence acquisition and synthesis principles and best practice, in alignment with Australia, Canada, China, the United Kingdom and the USA.
Of note for this Focused Search is Article 2 (5) HTAR which defines health technology assessment in the following terms,
"‘health technology assessment’ or ‘HTA’ means a multidisciplinary process that summarises information about the medical, patient and social aspects and the economic and ethical issues related to the use of a health technology in a systematic, transparent, unbiased and robust manner;"
Subsequent legislation, the 2024 EU HTA Regulation – Implementing Act (see References below, Ref. 2) provides practical details regarding the construction of a dossier for the joint clinical assessment of a medicinal product. The HTA dossier is the principle information package a Health Technology Developer (HTD) needs to submit to their relevant Health Technology Agency. Specifically, Annex I of the above act provides a template for the dossier of the joint clinical assessment of a medical product. Section 4.2 of this Annex I covers information retrieval and selection of relevant studies. With respect to bibliographic databases that should be consulted, specific mention is made of Medline and the Cochrane Database of Controlled Trials. The Annex also provides details of how searches need to be documented, date stamped, run on a regular basis and no more than 3 months old from the date of submitting the HTA dossier.
This Focused Search is composed of two parts.
Part 1 will show you how Ovid can help you run a tried and tested economic evaluation search filter on Embase on Ovid. This covers in part the economic side of the multidisciplinary approach to constructing an HTA dossier. Part 2 on the other hand, will show you how this search filter (and with that, search strategies generally) can be efficiently integrated into your dossier construction workflow where the following are concerned,
Part 1 – The Economic Evaluations Search Filter
The search filter for economic evaluations in this Focused Search is from SIGN. A UK public body, SIGN (Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network) is part of Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS). In its role as a producer of evidence-based guidelines for healthcare institutions and professionals in Scotland, SIGN has developed a selection of A&I database search filters to locate systematic reviews, RCTs, studies by type, e.g. observational, diagnostic and economic, as well as for patient issues. The search filters are not validated in a strict sense. Developed in-house they are all nevertheless tried and tested and are regularly used by SIGN in their evidence-gathering activities. Where the filters have leant towards other sources, e.g. Cochrane or CRD, this is stated in a preface to the search filter.
The Original SIGN Search
The original SIGN search filter designed to retrieve economic studies and operate on the Ovid platform on a line-by-line basis is as given below.
Socioeconomics/
Cost benefit analysis/
Cost effectiveness analysis/
Cost of illness/
Cost control/
Economic aspect/
Financial management/
Health care cost/
Health care financing/
Health economics/
Hospital cost/
(fiscal or financial or finance or funding).tw.
Cost minimization analysis/
(cost adj estimate$).mp.
(cost adj variable$).mp.
(unit adj cost$).mp.
Or/1-16The Search Filter Amended for Use on Ovid
This version of the search filter, as given below, has been compacted to the ‘paragraph format’ which runs in Ovid as a single line.
Socioeconomics/ OR Cost benefit analysis/ OR Cost effectiveness analysis/ OR Cost of illness/ OR Cost control/ OR Economic aspect/ OR Financial management/ OR Health care cost/ OR Health care financing/ OR Health economics/ OR Hospital cost/ OR (fiscal or financial or finance or funding).tw. OR Cost minimization analysis/ OR (cost adj estimate$).mp. OR (cost adj variable$).mp. OR (unit adj cost$).mp.It can be copied and pasted into the Ovid Advanced Search command box or run directly in Ovid using the following < jumpstart link >.
Part 2 – Workflow Integration
Constructing the HTA dossier is an involved undertaking. Between the initial dossier and its final submission, there may be numerous iterations of it. This implies numerous renditions of search strategies, be they for economic studies or for the PICO based searches around the medicinal product, being the object of the submission. Ovid features and functionality can help you optimise your workflow to accommodate this dynamism. For example,
On Ovid the Share Search History box offers three options to easily and efficiently share search histories. In the section References below, see the webinar presentation, How to build and share search strategies on Ovid® using concept searching, slides 47 to 51.
The Ovid platform provides various means of documenting search strategies. Internal tools such as Share Search History options, discussed above, allow you to easily share and document search strategies. In My Workspace, search strategies can also be stored, re-run and annotated to accommodate versioning. External tools, such as the Ovid Search History Launcher, available via the Ovid Tools and Resources Portal facilitates moving search strategies between Ovid and your document processing environments. For example, moving searches in and out of MS Word. In References below, see the webinar presentation, How to build and share search strategies on Ovid® using concept searching, slide 47.
Time stamps can be added to searches inline in the form of annotations by using the Actions / More / Edit feature available next to the search line expressions. Alternatively where searches are e-mailed to yourself or other recipients, the tabulated version of the search carries a date stamp in the top right-hand corner. In References below, see the webinar presentation, How to build and share search strategies on Ovid® using concept searching, slide 49.
When finally submitted, searches in the HTA dossier must be no more than 3 months old. To help with respect to limiting searches to spans of time from complete years or parts of years to user-defined time frames covering years, weeks or days, see the OvidGO! / Focused Search Embase on Ovid – Limiting Searches To Time Spans (Date Range Searching).
Search strategies, regardless of size, can be set up to run as automated searches using Ovid’s AutoAlert functionality. This monitoring possibility is also important for the HTA dossier as the regulator also expects the HTD to anticipate forthcoming information.
The references included in the points listed above will help you access the features and the functionality important for your work. However, if you would like a one-on-one coaching session with an Ovid trainer to review these features and how to best use them, or for instance, save your searches systematically in My Workspace or set up an AutoAlert, please request an Ovid Coaching session.
(*) Reviewer's Note: This is an updated, or in some cases, a completely revised version of a search filter formerly available on the Ovid Tools & Resources Portal. All such search filters are marked with the asterisk character placed at the end of the long title. If you have any questions relating to the migration of this search filter between the two portals, please contact us directly via [email protected] .
Primary: Michael Fanning
Secondary: Yvonne van de Vrede
Review Date: 2025-08-14
Expiry Date: 2026-08-14
Ovid Training Team
HTA Legislation – European Union
Ref. 1: EU HTA Regulation
Regulation (EU) 2021/2282 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 2021 on health technology assessment and amending Directive 2011/24/EU (Text with EEA relevance)
ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/2282/oj
Ref. 2: EU HTA Regulation – Implementing Act
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1381 of 23 May 2024 laying down, pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2021/2282 on health technology assessment, procedural rules for the interaction during, exchange of information on, and participation in, the preparation and update of joint clinical assessments of medicinal products for human use at Union level, as well as templates for those joint clinical assessments
ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2024/1381/oj
Search Filter Repository – United Kingdom
United Kingdom – Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN)
https://www.sign.ac.uk/
United Kingdom – SIGN Search filters
https://www.sign.ac.uk/using-our-guidelines/methodology/search-filters/
Ovid Training
How to build and share search strategies on Ovid® using concept searching
EMEA Webinar Series - 27th July 2023
OvidGO! / Focused Searches
Embase on Ovid – Limiting Searches To Time Spans (Date Range Searching)
How to limit searches to spans of time from complete years or parts of years to user-defined time frames covering years, weeks or days.
https://tools.ovid.com/ovidgo/searches/view.php?id=107
OvidGO! / Skills Videos
What is Embase?
How to interpret the Embase vs MEDLINE relationship (I)
How to interpret the Embase vs MEDLINE relationship (II)
How to interpret the Embase vs MEDLINE relationship (III)
How to use drug indexing in Embase
What is Emtree?
How to apply date range searches in Embase
Socioeconomics/
Cost benefit analysis/
Cost effectiveness analysis/
Cost of illness/
Cost control/
Economic aspect/
Financial management/
Health care cost/
Health care financing/
Health economics/
Hospital cost/
(fiscal or financial or finance or funding).tw.
Cost minimization analysis/
(cost adj estimate$).mp.
(cost adj variable$).mp.
(unit adj cost$).mp.
Or/1-16
Database: Embase on Ovid <1974 to Present>
How to use an economics evaluation search filter, designed for Embase on Ovid, in the context of HTA dossier construction. (*)
Many of the searches on OvidGO! / Focused Searches employ the PICO approach, where P stands for population or patient group, I for intervention, C for a comparator and O for outcome or outcomes, to search systematically for studies relating to the efficacy or otherwise, of a specified medical intervention. Such interventions or medicinal products, can be drug-based, device-based, a mixture of both as well as public health policy related interventions.
Generally speaking, for such medicinal products to be approved by the national healthcare system; in terms of safe use, value for money and hence funding, the medicinal product in question usually undergoes a health technology assessment (HTA). The overall responsibility of national healthcare authorities, an HTA for a medicinal product submitted by a Health Technology Developer (HTD) is carried out by mandated public authorities, referred to as Health Technology Agencies or by organisations appointed by them or the national healthcare authority.
Across countries and regions, the provision of healthcare, its means of funding, the pertinent legal and regulatory frameworks that embrace it, as well as the ethical and social norms that percolate through it, all differ widely. This has practical consequences for the cross-border sharing of scientific and clinical information that produced for medicinal products in one country, may be beneficial to patients in another.
Over the past two decades the European Union has sought to address this problem through regulatory initiatives. The resulting legislative acts, enacted some years back, now apply from 12th January 2025. The 2021 EU HTA Regulation (HTAR) (see References below, Ref. 1) constitutes a major milestone. The HTAR establishes a regulatory framework throughout the European Economic Area (EER) whereby local Member State national healthcare authorities are still the primary authority over HTA decision making, but that certain (and key) sources of evidence can be shared.
These key sources of evidence are the joint clinical assessment (JCA) and the joint scientific consultation (JSC). This has the practical effect that for example, a drug therapy being assessed for deployment in Germany, can be run through the German AMNOG assessment system but also draw upon clinical evaluation studies from France or Italy etc.. And even the UK and USA where relevant. The latter also possible because the legislation sees the sharing of information not only across the EEA, but also through the observation of established evidence acquisition and synthesis principles and best practice, in alignment with Australia, Canada, China, the United Kingdom and the USA.
Of note for this Focused Search is Article 2 (5) HTAR which defines health technology assessment in the following terms,
"‘health technology assessment’ or ‘HTA’ means a multidisciplinary process that summarises information about the medical, patient and social aspects and the economic and ethical issues related to the use of a health technology in a systematic, transparent, unbiased and robust manner;"
Subsequent legislation, the 2024 EU HTA Regulation – Implementing Act (see References below, Ref. 2) provides practical details regarding the construction of a dossier for the joint clinical assessment of a medicinal product. The HTA dossier is the principle information package a Health Technology Developer (HTD) needs to submit to their relevant Health Technology Agency. Specifically, Annex I of the above act provides a template for the dossier of the joint clinical assessment of a medical product. Section 4.2 of this Annex I covers information retrieval and selection of relevant studies. With respect to bibliographic databases that should be consulted, specific mention is made of Medline and the Cochrane Database of Controlled Trials. The Annex also provides details of how searches need to be documented, date stamped, run on a regular basis and no more than 3 months old from the date of submitting the HTA dossier.
This Focused Search is composed of two parts.
Part 1 will show you how Ovid can help you run a tried and tested economic evaluation search filter on Embase on Ovid. This covers in part the economic side of the multidisciplinary approach to constructing an HTA dossier. Part 2 on the other hand, will show you how this search filter (and with that, search strategies generally) can be efficiently integrated into your dossier construction workflow where the following are concerned,
Part 1 – The Economic Evaluations Search Filter
The search filter for economic evaluations in this Focused Search is from SIGN. A UK public body, SIGN (Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network) is part of Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS). In its role as a producer of evidence-based guidelines for healthcare institutions and professionals in Scotland, SIGN has developed a selection of A&I database search filters to locate systematic reviews, RCTs, studies by type, e.g. observational, diagnostic and economic, as well as for patient issues. The search filters are not validated in a strict sense. Developed in-house they are all nevertheless tried and tested and are regularly used by SIGN in their evidence-gathering activities. Where the filters have leant towards other sources, e.g. Cochrane or CRD, this is stated in a preface to the search filter.
The Original SIGN Search
The original SIGN search filter designed to retrieve economic studies and operate on the Ovid platform on a line-by-line basis is as given below.
Socioeconomics/
Cost benefit analysis/
Cost effectiveness analysis/
Cost of illness/
Cost control/
Economic aspect/
Financial management/
Health care cost/
Health care financing/
Health economics/
Hospital cost/
(fiscal or financial or finance or funding).tw.
Cost minimization analysis/
(cost adj estimate$).mp.
(cost adj variable$).mp.
(unit adj cost$).mp.
Or/1-16The Search Filter Amended for Use on Ovid
This version of the search filter, as given below, has been compacted to the ‘paragraph format’ which runs in Ovid as a single line.
Socioeconomics/ OR Cost benefit analysis/ OR Cost effectiveness analysis/ OR Cost of illness/ OR Cost control/ OR Economic aspect/ OR Financial management/ OR Health care cost/ OR Health care financing/ OR Health economics/ OR Hospital cost/ OR (fiscal or financial or finance or funding).tw. OR Cost minimization analysis/ OR (cost adj estimate$).mp. OR (cost adj variable$).mp. OR (unit adj cost$).mp.It can be copied and pasted into the Ovid Advanced Search command box or run directly in Ovid using the following < jumpstart link >.
Part 2 – Workflow Integration
Constructing the HTA dossier is an involved undertaking. Between the initial dossier and its final submission, there may be numerous iterations of it. This implies numerous renditions of search strategies, be they for economic studies or for the PICO based searches around the medicinal product, being the object of the submission. Ovid features and functionality can help you optimise your workflow to accommodate this dynamism. For example,
On Ovid the Share Search History box offers three options to easily and efficiently share search histories. In the section References below, see the webinar presentation, How to build and share search strategies on Ovid® using concept searching, slides 47 to 51.
The Ovid platform provides various means of documenting search strategies. Internal tools such as Share Search History options, discussed above, allow you to easily share and document search strategies. In My Workspace, search strategies can also be stored, re-run and annotated to accommodate versioning. External tools, such as the Ovid Search History Launcher, available via the Ovid Tools and Resources Portal facilitates moving search strategies between Ovid and your document processing environments. For example, moving searches in and out of MS Word. In References below, see the webinar presentation, How to build and share search strategies on Ovid® using concept searching, slide 47.
Time stamps can be added to searches inline in the form of annotations by using the Actions / More / Edit feature available next to the search line expressions. Alternatively where searches are e-mailed to yourself or other recipients, the tabulated version of the search carries a date stamp in the top right-hand corner. In References below, see the webinar presentation, How to build and share search strategies on Ovid® using concept searching, slide 49.
When finally submitted, searches in the HTA dossier must be no more than 3 months old. To help with respect to limiting searches to spans of time from complete years or parts of years to user-defined time frames covering years, weeks or days, see the OvidGO! / Focused Search Embase on Ovid – Limiting Searches To Time Spans (Date Range Searching).
Search strategies, regardless of size, can be set up to run as automated searches using Ovid’s AutoAlert functionality. This monitoring possibility is also important for the HTA dossier as the regulator also expects the HTD to anticipate forthcoming information.
The references included in the points listed above will help you access the features and the functionality important for your work. However, if you would like a one-on-one coaching session with an Ovid trainer to review these features and how to best use them, or for instance, save your searches systematically in My Workspace or set up an AutoAlert, please request an Ovid Coaching session.
(*) Reviewer's Note: This is an updated, or in some cases, a completely revised version of a search filter formerly available on the Ovid Tools & Resources Portal. All such search filters are marked with the asterisk character placed at the end of the long title. If you have any questions relating to the migration of this search filter between the two portals, please contact us directly via [email protected] .
Socioeconomics/
Cost benefit analysis/
Cost effectiveness analysis/
Cost of illness/
Cost control/
Economic aspect/
Financial management/
Health care cost/
Health care financing/
Health economics/
Hospital cost/
(fiscal or financial or finance or funding).tw.
Cost minimization analysis/
(cost adj estimate$).mp.
(cost adj variable$).mp.
(unit adj cost$).mp.
Or/1-16
Primary: Michael Fanning
Secondary: Yvonne van de Vrede
Review Date: 2025-08-14
Expiry Date: 2026-08-14
Ovid Training Team
HTA Legislation – European Union
Ref. 1: EU HTA Regulation
Regulation (EU) 2021/2282 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 2021 on health technology assessment and amending Directive 2011/24/EU (Text with EEA relevance)
ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/2282/oj
Ref. 2: EU HTA Regulation – Implementing Act
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1381 of 23 May 2024 laying down, pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2021/2282 on health technology assessment, procedural rules for the interaction during, exchange of information on, and participation in, the preparation and update of joint clinical assessments of medicinal products for human use at Union level, as well as templates for those joint clinical assessments
ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2024/1381/oj
Search Filter Repository – United Kingdom
United Kingdom – Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN)
https://www.sign.ac.uk/
United Kingdom – SIGN Search filters
https://www.sign.ac.uk/using-our-guidelines/methodology/search-filters/
Ovid Training
How to build and share search strategies on Ovid® using concept searching
EMEA Webinar Series - 27th July 2023
OvidGO! / Focused Searches
Embase on Ovid – Limiting Searches To Time Spans (Date Range Searching)
How to limit searches to spans of time from complete years or parts of years to user-defined time frames covering years, weeks or days.
https://tools.ovid.com/ovidgo/searches/view.php?id=107
OvidGO! / Skills Videos
What is Embase?
How to interpret the Embase vs MEDLINE relationship (I)
How to interpret the Embase vs MEDLINE relationship (II)
How to interpret the Embase vs MEDLINE relationship (III)
How to use drug indexing in Embase
What is Emtree?
How to apply date range searches in Embase
Version: 2025-08-14
Visited:
OvidGo! - Wolters Kluwer - Health Learning, Research and Practice
OvidGO! Portal. Focused Searches: Economic Evaluations – Embase on Ovid [Internet]. London (UK): Ovid Training Team (Editors); 2025 [updated 15 August 2025; cited 20 August 2025]. Available from: https://tools.ovid.com/ovidgo/searches/view.php?id=138
Version: 2025-08-14
Visited:
Ovid Customer Support, Database Size and Shape – Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Expert Searches Portal, Version: 8th May 2023, Visited: 11th May 2023.
An Ovid Coaching session has its agenda driven by you, the participating librarian. Topics covered are ones that you choose.
They may be related to Ovid functionality, search modes, search techniques, Ovid Tools & Resources, learning materials etc..
To register for an Ovid Coaching session please fill in the contact form below. In the Your Comments box let us know what you would like to discuss and when.
An Ovid Trainer will get back to you to confirm details.
Focused Searches on OvidGO! consist of a comprehensive selection of database searches that are easily discoverable, accessible and actionable, that you can run directly on the Ovid platform with a single click. The curated and regularly reviewed portfolio of searches has been selected by the Ovid Training Team from various named and accredited sources. They include search filters, search strategies, search blocks and vary in size and format.
You can use all the searches within Focused Searches as standalone resources or in combination with the other knowledge and educational assets in the training and coaching activity areas which together make up the OvidGO! portal. Portrayed using a standardised ABC approach (see next section) developed by the Ovid Training Team, any Focused Search can also be quickly displayed on screen passively for consultation, comparative reference as well as teaching purposes. Each search has a background section which provides more detail about the search, its origin plus any noteworthy features and characteristics.
Full accreditation is given to the creator of the search as well as a live and actionable reference to the original source. Each search carries an OvidGO! citation and can be embedded in non-Ovid documentation by means of a dedicated and permanent link.
Developed by the Ovid Training Team, the ABC approach, which stands for Action, Background and Citation, represents the standard format for every search on Focused Searches. Regardless of its type, size or origin, the ABC formula provides for each search; a memorable point of access for both an overview of the search, accompanying information as well as a set of options for its use and re-use.
For example, if you want to view the search on your screen, simply select Actions/Display. If on the other hand you want to launch the search so that it runs and displays in Ovid, select Actions/Display. Once in Ovid, you could use the executed search in the development of your search strategy, save it in My Workspace or share it with colleagues.
Further options under the Actions tab include:
Selecting the Background tab will provide you with information on the search. These details include:
Selecting the Citation tab will display an OvidGO! citation for the search on Ovid and accompanying materials as displayed in Focused Searches. The current citation format is Vancouver.
The searches on Ovid, presented using our ABC format, can be used in a number of ways. These depend, of course, on what your objective is. They could include searching for literature systematically or getting to know an unfamiliar database or even for teaching database use to others.
For example, if you are building a search strategy which requires locating randomised controlled trials, you might want to select Actions/Launch for the Cochrane RCT Search Filter I and directly include it in your search strategy. Equally you might want to save it as a search block in My Workspace for later review, use or even sharing.
Alternatively, were you to be unfamiliar with, say APA PsycInfo, you could select Actions/Display for the Covid and Mental Health - APA PsycInfo search to see how comfortable you are with that database’s use of terms and phrases for the subject matter.
In terms of teaching scenarios, you could refer to the Search History Analysis Example search, where the Background tab provides information on how to use a search history and its systematic deconstruction to help users better understand how and why such searches are built in the way that they are.
If you need our assistance on any of the Focused Searches use cases mentioned above, simply select Actions/Ovid Coaching for the search that interests you.
Every search on Focused Searches is inspected by at least two members of the Ovid Training Team. Inspection involves two activities. First, ensuring that the search as captured and displayed in OvidGO! Focused Searches is a true and accurate version of the original (which often has had to be extracted and/or rebuilt from its original source, commonly a paper- and/or PDF-based publication). Second, that the search runs on Ovid in the selected database and using the syntax as employed by the original creator of the search.
The Ovid Training Team reviewers do not alter or make changes to the content of the original work. Where ambiguities or questions may arise, these are discussed with the original creator of the search for clarification and author-approved remedial action if necessary. Details of any such request for clarification may also be reported on in the Background information where relevant and appropriate.
In the case of search filter type searches included in Focused Searches, if the original author of the search has validated the search, this information is included in the Background information. The Ovid Training Team does not undertake any search validation independently of the creator of the original search. Again, it's worth iterating here that the objective of OvidGO!’s Focused Searches is to bring useful, instructive and highly regarded searches, already published or issued, closer to a user-level surface for greater exposure and positive consumption.
Currently, the searches on Focused Searches will be reviewed annually for relevancy and usage.
Yes. Focused Searches on OvidGO! can now be accessed directly from the newly revised version of the Ovid Tools & Resources Portal under the section entitled Ovid Tools & Resources. The OvidGO! / Focused Searches have replaced what had been referred to as ‘Expert Searches‘ on the previous version of the Ovid Tools & Resources Portal.
Prior to their replacement the Expert Searches were reviewed and assessed for their possible subsequent inclusion into OvidGO!’s collection of Focused Searches. The selection criteria have been influenced by the former Expert Searches’ continued accuracy, relevance and topicality. A proportion of them, or their functional equivalents, have already been migrated to Focused Searches on OvidGO! and re-structured and re-issued in accordance with the ABC approach as discussed above.
If you, your users or your institution have preferred searches that were formerly part of the Expert Searches collection and you do not see them or an equivalent version in OvidGO!’s / Focused Searches, and would like to have them included in Focused Searches on OvidGO!’, please contact us directly via [email protected].
Yes! We would very much like to hear from you. Ideally, recommended searches should be of benefit to a large number of Ovid users. They can nevertheless vary in terms of what they have been designed to achieve. They could be searches that add a more elegant set of lines to a systematic literature search. Or a set of controlled terms that work well across databases with (very) different controlled vocabularies. Or searches that best demonstrate an approach to database usage.
If you have a search that you would like to recommend, please let us know.
The Focused Searches on OvidGO! editors, Michael Fanning and Charlotte Viken, are contactable via their respective e-mail addresses or alternatively via [email protected] .