![]() A professional systematic review is a time-consuming process: it will take the lead author about six months of full-time work. Often, your educational institution provides you with access. Access to databases and journal archives.If you’re doing a systematic review on your own (e.g., for a research paper or thesis), you should take appropriate measures to ensure the validity and reliability of your research.Ideally, in addition to your research team you’ll also have an advisory group of about six people. Best practices require three people for certain steps of the systematic review process. If there’s no previous research, there’s nothing to review. The question needs to be about a topic that’s previously been studied by multiple researchers. ![]() A precise question, usually about the effectiveness of an intervention.To conduct a systematic review, you’ll need the following: When to conduct a systematic reviewĪ systematic review is a good choice of review if you want to answer a question about the effectiveness of an intervention, such as a medical treatment. Sometimes scoping reviews are an exploratory preparation step for a systematic review, and sometimes they are a standalone project. The researcher tries to identify the main concepts, theories, and evidence, as well as gaps in the current research. The most important difference is the goal: rather than answering a specific question, a scoping review explores a topic. However, a scoping review isn’t a type of systematic review. Similar to a systematic review, a scoping review is a type of review that tries to minimize bias by using transparent and repeatable methods. Typically, an expert in a topic will qualitatively summarize and evaluate previous work, without using a formal, explicit method.Īlthough literature reviews are often less time-consuming and can be insightful or helpful, they have a higher risk of bias and are less transparent than systematic reviews. It’s a statistical analysis that combines the results of two or more studies, usually to estimate an effect size.Ī literature review is a type of review that uses a less systematic and formal approach than a systematic review. A meta-analysis is a statistical analysis, not a type of review.Ī meta-analysis is a technique to synthesize results from multiple studies. Systematic reviews often quantitatively synthesize the evidence using a meta-analysis. The synthesis can be narrative ( qualitative), quantitative, or both. Synthesizing means bringing together different information to tell a single, cohesive story. Systematic reviews typically answer their research question by synthesizing all available evidence and evaluating the quality of the evidence. Systematic reviews are most commonly used in medical and public health research, but they can also be found in other disciplines. It provides detailed guidelines on how to complete each step of the systematic review process. The methods are repeatable, and the approach is formal and systematic:Īlthough multiple sets of guidelines exist, the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews is among the most widely used. What makes a systematic review different from other types of reviews is that the research methods are designed to reduce bias. Frequently asked questions about systematic reviewsĪ review is an overview of the research that’s already been completed on a topic.Step-by-step example of a systematic review. ![]() Based on the evidence, Boyle and colleagues concluded that probiotics cannot be recommended for reducing eczema symptoms or improving quality of life in patients with eczema. They used systematic methods to find, select, and synthesize all available evidence, and they described these methods in detail in their article. Eczema is a common skin condition that causes red, itchy skin. In this context, a probiotic is a health product that contains live microorganisms and is taken by mouth. They answered the question “What is the effectiveness of probiotics in reducing eczema symptoms and improving quality of life in patients with eczema?” Robert Boyle and his colleagues published a systematic review in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. It answers a clearly formulated research question and explicitly states the methods used to arrive at the answer. Start citing Systematic Review | Definition, Example & GuideĪ systematic review is a type of review that uses repeatable methods to find, select, and synthesize all available evidence. Generate accurate APA, MLA, and Chicago citations for free with Scribbr's Citation Generator.
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