How do Psychology Researchers Find Studies to Include in Meta-analyses?

Meta-analysis is a technique used in a variety of disciplines to combine and summarize the findings of previous research. One step in the production of a meta-analysis is a thorough literature search for relevant studies. A variety of methods can be used to increase the number of studies that are found. This study examines the extent to which some of these steps were taken in meta-analyses published in American Psychological Association in journals in 2004. Some techniques were applied in almost all of the meta-analyses, and other techniques were applied in few of the meta-analyses. Implications of these results for librarians are discussed