10. Reporting of the literature review

A literature search should be reproducible and therefore explicitly documented. The report of a literature search should contain the following items:

1. Description of the search methodology:

a. Search protocol

i. Search question

ii. Searched databases

iii. Search terms, their combinations and the restrictions used (e.g. language, date)

iv. In- and exclusion criteria for the selection of the studies

b. Quality appraisal methodology

c. Data extraction methodology

2. Description of the search results:

a. Number of retrieved articles, in- and excluded studies, and reasons for exclusion; use of flow chart

b. Results of quality appraisal

c. Evidence tables for each search question