Coverage and similarity of bibliographic databases to find most relevant literature for systematic reviews in education

Abstract

Systematic literature reviews in educational research have become a popular research method. A key point hereby is the choice of bibliographic databases to reach a maximum probability of finding all potentially relevant literature that deals with the research question analyzed in a systematic literature review. Guidelines and handbooks on review recommend proper databases and information sources for education, along with specific search strategies. However, in many disciplines, among them educational research, there is a lack of evidence on the relevance of databases that need to be considered to find relevant literature and lessen the risk of missing relevant publications. Educational research is an interdisciplinary field and has no core database. Instead, the field is covered by multiple disciplinary and multidisciplinary information sources that have either a national or international focus. In this article, we discuss the relevance of seven databases in systematic literature reviews in education, based on results of an empirical data analysis of three recently published reviews. To evaluate the relevance of a database, the relevant literature of those reviews served as the gold standard. Results indicate that discipline-specific databases outperform international multidisciplinary sources, and a combination of discipline-specific international and national sources is most efficient in finding a high proportion of relevant literature. The article discusses the relevance of the databases in relation to their coverage of relevant literature, while considering practical implications for researchers performing a systematic literature search. We, thus, present evidence for proper database choices for educational and discipline-related systematic literature reviews.