Systematic Reviews

What is a Systematic Review?

A systematic review attempts to collate all empirical evidence that fits pre-specified eligibility criteria in order to answer a specific research question.  It uses explicit, systematic methods that are selected with a view to minimizing bias, thus providing more reliable findings from which conclusions can be drawn and decisions made.  The key characteristics of a systematic review are:

• a clearly stated set of objectives with pre-defined eligibility criteria for studies;
• an explicit, reproducible methodology;
• a systematic search that attempts to identify all studies that would meet the eligibility criteria;
• an assessment of the validity of the findings of the included studies, for example through the assessment of risk of bias; and
• a systematic presentation, and synthesis, of the characteristics and findings of the included studies.

Reference

Higgins JPT, Green S (editors). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions Version 5.1.0 [updated March 2011]. The Cochrane Collaboration, 2011. Available from handbook.cochrane.org

How Can a Librarian Help?

Research librarians can partner with you on systematic reviews. Add us to your author team and we will design and manage complex, thorough searches in multiple databases. We will also provide you with:

• Files of de-duplicated results,
• Tables with detailed search strategies, 
• A narrative of the search methodology, and
• Identify potential journals for publication.

The Institute of Medicine has published 21 standards for the publication of high-quality systematic reviews. Two of these standards are:

• Standard 3.1.1 Work with a librarian or other information specialist trained in performing systematic reviews (SRs) to plan the search strategy
• Standard 3.1.3 Use an independent librarian or other information specialist to peer review the search strategy. 

Meet the Systematic Review Librarians