Search methods for identification of studies

See the 'Specialised register' information at the Cochrane Stroke Group's website. We will search for relevant trials in all languages and arrange translation of trial reports where necessary.

We will search the Cochrane Stroke Group trials register and the following electronic databases:

Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (Cochrane Library; latest issue) in the Cochrane Library;

MEDLINE Ovid (from 1946) (Appendix 1);

Embase Ovid (from 1974);

CINAHL EBSCO (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature; from 1982);

PsycINFO Ovid (from 1806);

Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI‐EXPANDED from 1900);

Conference Proceedings Citation Index‐ Science (CPCI‐S; from 1990);

BIOSIS Citation Index (from 1926);

British Library EThOS (ethos.bl.uk/);

ProQuest Dissertation and Theses Global (from 1997).

We will model the subject strategies for databases on the search strategy designed for MEDLINE by the Cochrane Stroke Group's Information Specialist (Appendix 1). All search strategies deployed will be combined with subject strategy adaptations of the Highly Sensitive Search Strategy designed by Cochrane for identifying randomised controlled trials and controlled clinical trials (Lefebvre 2011).

We will search the following ongoing trials registers:

US National Institutes of Health Ongoing Trials Register ClinicalTrials.gov (www.clinicaltrials.gov/);

World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (who.int/ictrp/en/);

Stroke Trials Registry (www.strokecenter.org/trials/).

In an effort to identify further published, unpublished, and ongoing trials, we will::

check the bibliographies of included studies and any relevant systematic reviews identified for further references to relevant trials, and use Google Scholar (scholar.google.co.uk/) to forward track relevant references;

contact original authors for clarification and further data if trial reports are unclear;

where necessary, contact experts and organisations to obtain additional information on relevant trials;

use the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health Grey Matters checklist for searching grey literature.