title: A NOVEL SEARCH BUILDER TO EXPEDITE SEARCH STRATEGIES FOR SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Developing a search strategy for use in a systematic review is a time-consuming process requiring construction of detailed search strings using complicated syntax, followed by iterative fine-tuning and trial-and-error testing of these strings in online biomedical search engines.
  
  
  METHODS
  Building upon limitations of existing online-only search builders, a user-friendly computer-based tool was created to expedite search strategy development as part of production of a systematic review.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Search Builder 1.0 is a Microsoft Excel®-based tool that automatically assembles search strategy text strings for PubMed (www.pubmed.com) and Embase (www.embase.com), based on a list of user-defined search terms and preferences. With the click of a button, Search Builder 1.0 automatically populates the syntax needed for functional search strings, and copies the string to the clipboard for pasting into Pubmed or Embase. The offline file-based interface of Search Builder 1.0 also allows for searches to be easily shared and saved for future reference.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This novel, user-friendly tool can save considerable time and streamline a cumbersome step in the systematic review process.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine,David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLAbkamdar@mednet.ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Biren B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Kamdar
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine,University of California,San Francisco.
authors.forename: Pooja A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: University of Vermont College of Medicine.
authors.forename: Sruthi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sakamuri
authors.affiliation: Independent Technology Consultant.
authors.forename: Bharat S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Kamdar
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology,Johns Hopkins University.
authors.forename: Jiwon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Oh
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D039781:PubMed; D012196:Review Literature as Topic; D057386:Search Engine / Q000379:methods*; D014584:User-Computer Interface
keywords: Microsoft Excel; Search builder; Software tool; Systematic review