Advice for Systematic Reviews
Systematic reviews are major pieces of research involving a range of steps, and a lot of work:
- Clearly define your question(s)
- Check whether a review on your topic has already been done, or is currently being done
- Write a protocol – outline methods, develop criteria for including studies
- Search for studies – design, test and run search
- Select studies – screen titles/abstracts; obtain papers
- Extract data from the studies
- Assess the quality of the studies – apply criteria, assess risk of bias
- Combine data – synthesis or meta-analysis
- Report your results and findings
- Undertake dissemination
Protocol
A systematic review protocol describes the rationale, hypothesis, and planned methods of the review. It should be prepared before a review is started and used as a guide to carry out the review (PRISMA 2020 statement).
Meet with a Research Services Adviser
We can help with your search strategy, and where to search. To make the most of your meeting, bring:
- Your study question defined
- Types of studies to be identified
- Examples of relevant literature
- A MEDLINE search strategy if you’ve done one
Other resources
- Cochrane handbook for systematic reviews of interventions
- Other Cochrane handbooks
- Cochrane author resources
- PRISMA: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses
- Systematic reviews: CRD’s guidance for undertaking reviews in health care
Books in the Library
- Doing a systematic review: A student’s guide
Boland, A et al. London: SAGE. 2014. - How to do a systematic literature review in nursing: A step-by-step guide
Bettany-Saltikov, J. & McSherry, R. London: McGraw-Hill Education/Open University Press. 2016. - Systematic reviews to answer health care questions
Nelson, H. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health. 2014.
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