Optimising database searching in pharmacy education

Abstract Objectives To determine the effectiveness of databases in a pharmacy education literature search. Methods Six databases (CINAHL, ERIC, Google Scholar, Ovid MEDLINE, Science Direct and Scopus) were compared for effectiveness in identifying pharmacy education literature. Articles were coded for database of retrieval and results cross-referenced. Sensitivity, precision and number of unique retrievals were calculated. Key findings Scopus yielded the highest sensitivity (65%) and precision (47%). The combination of three databases (Scopus, Science Direct and Google Scholar) identified 97% (n = 64) of 66 relevant articles. Conclusions Pharmacy education literature searches require more than one database, ideally Scopus, Science Direct and Google Scholar.