Delimitation of a medical research topic: interaction with experts in selecting a database and constructing a search strategy

Anton J Nederhof

Research Evaluation, 1991, vol. 1, issue 3, 149-154

Abstract: Particularly when (sub)fields of research are involved in research evaluation, an important step is the delimitation of the (sub)field. Delimitation of a subfield can be enhanced by using bibliometric tools and expert opinion in interaction. The study compared the retrieval of articles concerning chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) and asthma in four databases. By combining expert judgement with results from on- line searches, it was attempted to delineate COPD and asthma so that both clinical and fundamental research are covered optimally. The findings show that it is possible to construct targeted search strategies which retrieve almost all relevant publications, even on a topic which is notoriously difficult to cover because of its heterogeneity and non-specific character. This study also shows that it can be very difficult to cover research subfields well by only using a few journals or a few key terms. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Date: 1991
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