Systematic Reviews

A systematic review is a summary of the medical literature that uses explicit methods to perform a comprehensive literature search and critical appraisal of individual studies and that uses appropriate statistical techniques to combine these valid studies. (CEBM).

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
• a systematic presentation, and synthesis, of the characteristics and findings of the included studies. (Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions, 2008, p. 6)

Meta-analysis is a systematic review process that uses quantitative methods to synthesize and summarize the results.
Meta-synthesis is a systematic review process that synthesises a number of qualitative studies to reveal new understandings.

Jahan, N., Naveed, S., Zeshan, M., & Tahir, M. A. (2016). How to conduct a systematic review: A narrative literature review. Cureus, 8(11), e864. doi:10.7759/cureus.864

Shamseer, L., & Moher, D. (2015). Planning a systematic review? Think protocols.  Retrieved from BioMed Central blog:https://blogs.biomedcentral.com/bmcblog/2015/01/05/planning-a-systematic-review-think-protocols/

JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis

Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions

The Equator Network  develops and provides Reporting Guidelines for all types of studies

The Collaboration for Environmental Evidence (CEE)  has developed a set of standards and methods specifically for reviews on environmental issues.

Special thanks to Debbie Booth and the University of Newcastle Library for permission to reuse and modify most of the information on this guide.

View the original U of N Systematic Review guide.