Systematic Reviews Summarised
- The following video offers explanations of systematic reviews and what's involved in doing them.
Find existing systematic reviews
- The following is a selection of databases giving access to reviews in different subject areas.
- 3ie Systematic ReviewsCovers reviews in international development.
- The Campbell Collaboration Online LibraryCovers crime and justice, education, international development, and social welfare.
- Cochrane Library This link opens in a new window
What is Systematic Review?
A Systematic Review
- Answers a focused (usually clinical) question
- Uses a comprehensive, reproducible search strategy
- Identifies ALL relevant studies (published and unpublished)
- Evaluates all results for inclusion and quality
- Brings together the findings in an unbiased way and presents a balanced summary
- Should be run by at least two researchers, but often involves large teams looking at complex research questions
- Can take months or even years to complete
Getting help
Your subject liaison librarian can help with some of the steps in the process, such as choosing where to search (step 2), developing a search strategy (step 3), running & recording your search (step 4) and managing your search results (step 5). Refer to your supervisor for help with developing your protocol, evaluating the studies and writing up the review.
How does it differ from a systematic literature search?
You may be asked by someone to do a systematic review, when what they actually want you to do is a systematic review of the literature. There are few key differences.
|
Systematic review |
Systematic literature review |
|---|---|
|
Brings together the results of studies to answer a specific question |
Provides a subjective summary of the literature on a topic |
|
Extensive search covering published and grey literature |
Thorough search of published literature |
|
Involves a detailed protocol often developed using the PICOS framework |
Includes a detailed search strategy |
|
Involves three or more people to eliminate bias |
Can be produced by a single person, so open to bias |
|
Can take months or years to produce |
Weeks or months to produce |
|
Includes...
|
Includes...
|