Systematic Search Strategy (psychbull-literature-search-strategy)

A Psychological Bulletin synthesis stands or falls on its search: it must be systematic, exhaustive, and reproducible, and all systematic reviews must conform to PRISMA. The goal is that an independent team could re-run your search and recover the same pool. This skill designs and documents the search; eligibility decisions and coding live in psychbull-inclusion-and-coding.

When to trigger

• Designing the search before screening begins
• A reviewer asks whether the search was exhaustive or reproducible
• Building the PRISMA flow counts (identified → screened → eligible → included)
• Updating the search before resubmission

What an exhaustive search covers