Research Guides: Systematic reviews, scoping reviews and other evidence syntheses: Systematic reviews

What is a systematic review?

Systematic reviews:

Undertake a systematic, structured review of all empirical evidence on a specific & clearly formulated research question
Use explicit, predefined criteria to include and exclude studies
Feature comprehensive search strategies which are systematic, free of bias and reproducible
are not “review articles”

Systematic reviews versus literature reviews

From: Kysh, L. (2013). What’s In A Name?: The Difference Between a Systematic Review and a Literature Review and Why It Matters. Poster presented at Medical Library Group of Southern California & Arizona (MLGSCA) and the Northern California and Nevada Medical Library Group (NCNMLG) Joint Meeting, La Jolla, CA.

Steps in a systematic review

What type of systematic review is appropriate?

Choose a type of systematic review which best matches your:
- Research question
- Inclusion/exclusion criteria
- Methods for analysis and synthesis
Common systematic review types:
- Effectiveness
- Costs/Economic Evaluation
- Etiology and/or Risk
- Prognostic
- Incidence
Guidance on different types of systematic reviews:
- Table 1, Types of Reviews from Munn, Z., Stern, C., Aromataris, E. et al. What kind of systematic review should I conduct? A proposed typology and guidance for systematic reviewers in the medical and health sciences. BMC Med Res Methodol 18, 5 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-017-0468-4
- Aromataris E, Munn Z (Editors). JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis. JBI, 2020. Available from https://synthesismanual.jbi.global. https://doi.org/10.46658/JBIMES-20-01
- Higgins JPT, Thomas J, Chandler J, Cumpston M, Li T, Page MJ, Welch VA (editors). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions version 6.4 (updated August 2023). Cochrane, 2023. Available from www.training.cochrane.org/handbook.