The following searches are adapted by Countway librarians from the Cochrane Sensitivity and Precision Maximizing Filter described in:
See Part 2, Chapter 4, S1 (pages 58-66):
Lefebvre C, Glanville J, Briscoe S, Littlewood A, Marshall C, Metzendorf M-I, Noel-Storr A, Rader T, Shokraneh F, Thomas J, Wieland LS. Technical Supplement to Chapter 4: Searching for and selecting studies. In: Higgins JPT, Thomas J, Chandler J, Cumpston MS, Li T, Page MJ, Welch VA (eds). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions Version 6. Cochrane, 2019. Available from: www.training.cochrane.org/handbook
PubMed
(randomized controlled trial[pt] OR controlled clinical trial[pt] OR clinical trials as topic[mesh:noexp] OR trial[ti] OR random*[tiab] OR placebo*[tiab])
MEDLINE (OVID)
1. (randomized controlled trial or controlled clinical trial).pt.
2. clinical trials as topic/
3. (random* or placebo*).ti,ab.
4. trial.ti.
7. or/1-4
Embase (embase.com)
1.'controlled clinical trial'/exp
2. (random* OR placebo*):ti,ab
3. trial:ti
4. (#1 or #2 OR #3) AND [embase]/lim
(adapted and simplified from the Cochrane Technical Supplement)
CINAHL (EBSCOhost)
1. PT "randomized controlled trial"
2. MH ("randomized controlled trials" OR "random assignment" OR "placebos")
3. TI (random* OR trial OR placebo*)
4. AB (random* OR placebo*)
S1 OR S2 OR S3 OR S4
(adapted and simplified from the Cochrane Technical Supplement)
Web of Science
1. TI=(random* OR placebo* OR trial)
2. AB=(random* OR placebo*)
3. #1 OR #2
PsycInfo (EBSCOhost)
1. DE ("randomized controlled trials" OR "random assignment" OR "placebo" OR "randomeized clinical trials")
2. MA "clinical trials as topic"
3. TI (random* OR trial OR placebo*)
4. AB (random* OR placebo*)
5. S1 OR S2 OR S3 OR S4