This guide has been developed for Barwon Health staff who are in the early stages of planning a systematic review. The guide is not a comprehensive step-by-step set of instructions on how to conduct a systematic review, but a list of things to think about before you start a systematic review. The guide also contains links to resources that provide information about systematic review methodology and resources.
Barwon Health Library staff can assist you to develop a literature search strategy. To meet with a Librarian, please complete the online form: Book A Consultation or contact the library for more information.
The video above was prepared by the Cochrane Consumers and Communication group. It provides an overview of systematic reviews (duration 3min 24 sec).
"Systematic reviews seek to collate evidence that fits pre-specified eligibility criteria in order to answer a specific research question. They aim to minimize bias by using explicit, systematic methods documented in advance with a protocol."
- Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions
Below are links to learning opportunities that Barwon Health staff highly recommend:
Courses at Barwon Health for staff - keep a lookout in the What's On; Research and Grand Round Newsletter and Library e-newsletters:
Get other people involved. If you haven't already, recruit at least one other person to assist you to screen studies. Having at least two team members screen, helps to minimize bias and ensure the reliability of the review process.
The point of a systematic review is to find as many relevant studies as possible. Your search strategy should be broad to ensure that relevant studies are found, and therefore a number of irrelevant studies will also be found.
All team members should start off by screening studies at the title and abstract level to identify relevant studies according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria set out in your protocol. Studies considered relevant will need to be assessed by examining the full text of the article, using the inclusion and exclusion criteria. There are online tools that can assist with screening, for example:
Does your research question lend itself to a systematic review? Is it more appropriate for a scoping review or literature review?
To help you answer this question, read the article:
If you have decided to conduct a systematic review, we suggest you read this article before you start formulating your research question to work out which kind of systematic review you will conduct:
According to Munn et al. (2018), many authors try to force their research question into the PICO (population, intervention, comparison, outcome) framework, which may not suit the research question, and confound the rest of the review process. Table 1 (p. 3), provides a list of typologies, the aim of each typology, the relevant question format and a question example. Each typology is explained in more detail within the article, with a brief description of relevant tools to assist the review process (as applicable).
AN IMPORTANT FIRST STEP
When you have decided on a topic, search in PROSPERO or PubMed (use the SR filter) to find systematic reviews on your topic.
PROSPERO is a database of prospectively registered systematic reviews, containing review protocols.
If you find that a systematic review is being conducted on the topic you have chosen, consider whether you need to replicate it. The following article provides consensus based guidance on when to replicate or not (including a 12-item checklist):
A protocol outlines the methods and procedures you will follow, such as:
Inclusion and exclusion criteria for studies,
Search strategy
Data extraction process
Methods for assessing the quality of included studies.
For more detail, view systematic review protocols in PROSPERO or view this example.
You may already have a decided to follow a particular systematic review methodology or guideline, such as Cochrane, Campbell Collaboration, JBI (Joanne Briggs Institute). Depending on your methodology, you may use PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidance, which includes a checklist and flow diagram to help with systematic review reporting.
The most efficient way of managing your citations is to use citation management software such as RefWorks or EndNote. The Library has a RefWorks subscription – for more information see RefWorks or contact the library.
When you have your set of included studies, you will need to extract the relevant data in order to synthesise the evidence and write a report. Data extraction will depend on the type of systematic review you are conducting. Data should be recorded in a standardised format.
The Barwon Health Biostatistics Support Service provides statistical support to Barwon Health researchers. The service provides assistance with data analysis, interpretation and reporting.
Publication in a peer-reviewed journal is not the only way to disseminate your findings, here are some other ways:
For more ideas see the following article: