Stroke Training and Awareness Resources (STARs)

Where do I find research?

Before you start looking for research articles, it is important to remember:

  • Identifying all available research by searching electronic databases can be difficult and time-consuming. You can rarely be certain that you have identified all available research.
  • Research that has been synthesised or summarised in a systematic and rigorous way provides a good way of accessing evidence [See ‘Evidence topic loop’ at bottom of this page].
  • A stroke health professional looking to answer a clinical question should ALWAYS look for summarised evidence first, rather than seeking original research articles.
  • If there are no clear standards, guidelines or summarised evidence THEN it may be appropriate to search for original research articles.

Knowledge Network

  • The Scottish Knowledge Network, provided by NHS Education for Scotland, gives you access to published research.
  • You can enter your search terms on the home page and search for all the research on the Knowledge Network. When you have run your search you will have the option to filter the search results by the type of evidence.
  • The Knowledge Network filters can be extremely useful, and can help you identify evidence such as Best Practice Statements or patient information leaflets.
  • There is a huge volume of evidence on the Knowledge Network. Unless you can make your search quite specific, the quantity of results can be overwhelming. Searching in the Knowledge Network may be beneficial if you are just wanting to increase your knowledge and do some general background reading around a subject.

Cochrane Library

  • The key content on The Cochrane Library is synthesised evidence in the form of systematic reviews.
  • However the Cochrane Library also has a database of clinical trials.
  • If you are looking for high quality evidence in the form of randomised clinical trials The Cochrane Library is an ideal resource.
  • The advantage of the Cochrane Library as compared to Knowledge Network is that the results are limited to systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials.
  • Wiley Online Library

DORIS

  • DORIS is the Database Of Research In Stroke
  • DORIS has been supported by the Scottish Government’s National Advisory Committee for Stroke to give you easy access to high quality stroke evidence.
  • DORIS gives you easy access to guidelines, Cochrane reviews, other systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials.
  • The Cochrane Stroke Group maintain a database of all the stroke trials in the world. These are the trials that are included on DORIS. This is therefore a comprehensive list of high quality stroke research in the form of randomised controlled trials.

Topic Loop: Evidence

Page last reviewed: 16 Sep 2020