Objectives: By the end of the workshop participants will be able to:

- Outline the potential contribution of qualitative research to systematic reviews;

- Formulate a search question using the SPICE framework and have practiced with at least one example;

- Identify key categories of search terms for retrieving qualitative research, as captured in the ESCAPADE mnemonic, and be able to evaluate their respective strengths and weaknesses;

- Understand the likely contribution of citation searching and Internet searching to retrieval of qualitative research;

- Understand the use of filters as search tools for retrieving qualitative research and be able to rehearse the main terms included in common filters;

- Summarise requirements for effective reporting of literature searches according to proposed STAndards for Reporting LITErature searches (STARLITE).

Description:This workshop will provide a condensed version of two pilot workshops run for members of the Cochrane Qualitative Methods Group in Oxford in July 2005. It will draw upon research into information retrieval conducted by the author, colleagues in the UK and by researchers at McMaster University to provide a practical evidence based approach to literature searching for qualitative research. This is a training workshop that will include the teaching of relevant skills, promote interaction and provide time for hands-on application of the skills being taught.

Target audience: Systematic reviewers with good basic literature searching skills, librarians, information specialists and trials search co-ordinators.

Style: Training workshop