Search Characteristics and Reporting of Systematic Reviews of Animal Experiments: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract BackgroundThe formulation and implementation of a comprehensive search strategy is the basis for ensuring the quality of a systematic review (SR) and/or meta-analysis (MA). All published SRs/MAs of animal experiments were comprehensively identified, to evaluate how each search strategy was formulated, and how the search process and reporting were implemented, in order to represent a reference and provide suggestions for the future development of search procedures and reporting guidelines for SRs/MAs of animal experiments which should, ultimately, allow translation of the results of animal experiments into clinical practice.Methods and FindingsPubMed, OVID-Embase, Biosis Previews, CNKI, CBM, Wanfang Data, and VIP databases were searched to identify the SRs/MAs of medical-related animal experiments. The literature was independently screened and basic information extracted. The search characteristics (including search methods and their reporting) of each included study were analyzed in accordance with pre-established evaluation criteria. A total of 813 animal experiment SRs/MAs published in 503 different journals from 52 countries and regions were included. PubMed, Embase, and Medline were the three most commonly searched English-language databases for animal experiment SRs/MAs, although in 28.8% (234/813), fewer than 3 databases were searched. A supplementary search had been conducted in only half (52.2%, 424/813%) of the studies. In terms of search reporting, only 47.4% (385/813) reported search methods and 31.6% (243/813) described the search strategy. Only 4.8% (39/813) of the animal experiments SRs/MAs reported the qualifications of the search personnel.ConclusionsThe quality of search methods and reporting of the search process for published SRs/MAs of animal experiments are inadequate and substandard. Therefore, the search process should be standardized in future to improve efficiency and ensure the integrity and universality of the search, thereby allowing the development of SR/MA search strategies and reporting guidelines for animal experiments, and ultimately promote improvements in the quality of animal experiment SRs/MAs.