LibGuides: Systematic Reviews: What is a systematic review

What is a systematic review?

A systematic review uses explicit methods to perform a comprehensive literature search and critical appraisal of selected studies, using appropriate statistical techniques.

Key characteristics of a systematic review are:

a clearly stated set of objectives with pre-defined eligibility criteria for studies
an explicit, reproducible search strategy and 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).

A systematic review may include a meta analysis, which uses quantitative methods to synthesize and summarize the results.

Library services to support systematic reviews

Library liaison staff are available to consult with researchers, research groups and HDR students, and we can assist to:

Develop or refine review topics
Identify existing SRs on a topic
Recommend appropriate databases and grey literature sources
Review search strategies
Develop search strategies to ensure all relevant studies are identified
Advise on documentation of search strategies
Advise on a citation management strategy, including sharing EndNote Libraries between participants
Assist with removal of duplicate records
Advise on options for locating full text items
Advise on alerting services to capture new publications

Contact a liaison librarian near you for a consultation.

Similiarities and differences between systematic and literature reviews

Reproduced from: Bettany-Saltikov, J. (2010). Learning how to undertake a systematic review: Part 1. Nursing Standard, 24(40): p. 47-55.

	Systematic Review	Literature Review
Question	Focused on a single question	Not necessarily focused on a single question, but may describe an overview
Protocol	A peer review protocol or plan is included	No protocol is included
Background	Both provide summaries of the available literature on a topic
Objectives	Clear objectives are identified	Objectives may or may not be identified
Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria	Criteria stated before the review is conducted	Criteria not specified
Search Strategy	Comprehensive search conducted in a systematic way	Strategy not explicitly stated
Process of Selecting Articles	Usually clear and explicit	Not described in a literature review
Process of Evaluating Articles	Comprehensive evaluation of study quality	Evaluation of study quality may or may not be included
Process of Extracting Relevant Information	Usually clear and specific	Not clear or explicit
Results and Data Synthesis	Clear summaries of studies based on high quality evidence	Summary based on studies where the quality of the articles may not be specified. May also be influenced by the reviewer's theories, needs and beliefs
Discussion	Written by an expert or group of experts with a detailed and well grounded knowledge of the issues