A comparison of different methods of identifying publications related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: Case Study of SDG 13: Climate Action

As sustainability becomes an increasing priority throughout global society, academic and research institutions are assessed on their contribution to relevant research publications. This study compares four methods of identifying research publications related to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13: climate action. The four methods, Elsevier, STRINGS, SIRIS, and Dimensions have each developed search strings with the help of subject matter experts which are then enhanced through distinct methods to produce a final set of publications. Our analysis showed that the methods produced comparable quantities of publications but with little overlap making them difficult for policy makers to rely on. Some methods opted for very broad search terms that resulted in large numbers of papers, while others chose highly technical terms that were enhanced to produce publication datasets with a different focus. The findings will enable those assessing research into climate action to draw a link between the search strategy and the type of publications they are likely to find. Evaluators will be better equipped to select available search strategies or design new ones depending on their specific objective.