In addition to the goals of comprehensiveness and limiting bias, a systematic search should be transparent and replicable. To document each stage of the literature search, it is useful to create accounts in the selected databases which will enable you to save your searches. The search strategy/history can then be recorded along with the specific features and filters for each database. Here is an example of an Excel spreadsheet for search documentation. The number of results and the number of duplicates from each search are needed to complete a PRISMA flow diagram used to document the identification and review of documents in a systematic review.
