| Search set | CIDG SRa | CENTRAL | MEDLINEb | EMBASEb | LILACSb | Science Citation Index |
| 1 | malaria | malaria | malaria | malaria | malaria | malaria |
| 2 | Plasmodium | Plasmodium | Plasmodium | Plasmodium | Plasmodium | Plasmodium |
| 3 | 1 or 2 | 1 or 2 | 1 or 2 | 1 or 2 | 1 or 2 | 1 or 2 |
| 4 | vaccin* | vaccin* | vaccin* | vaccin* | vaccin* | vaccin* |
| 5 | 3 and 4 | 3 and 4 | 3 and 4 | 3 and 4 | 3 and 4 | 3 and 4 |
| 6 | — | MALARIA VACCINES | MALARIA VACCINES | MALARIA VACCINES | — | — |
| 7 | — | 5 or 6 | 5 or 6 | 5 or 6 | — | — |
| 8 | — | — | Limit 7 to human | Limit 7 to human | — | — |