Doing a Systematic Review
Source: https://libguides.tcd.ie/systematic-reviews Parent: https://libguides.tcd.ie/library-survey-2023/support
- Home
- What is a systematic review?
- How does it differ from a systematic literature search?
- Other types of review
- Systematic reviews summarised
- Find existing systematic reviews
- Other guides to doing systematic reviews
- Subject Librarian
- Step 1: Your Research Question, Frameworks and Creating a Protocol
- Step 2: Choosing Where to Search
- Step 3: Developing a Search Strategy
- Step 4: Running & Recording your Search
- Step 5: Managing your Search Results
- Step 6: Evaluating & Sifting the Results
- Step 7: Writing it up - Including PRISMA Diagrams
- Useful Books for Literature Reviews
- Asking the Library for Advanced Help
Credits
Adapted with thanks from many sources, using the excellent LibGuide Doing a systematic review from the University of Reading as a basis.
What is a systematic review?
A systematic review should:
- Answer a focused question
- Use a comprehensive, reproducible search strategy
- Identify ALL relevant studies (published and unpublished), unless certain types are specifically excluded
- Evaluate all results for inclusion and quality
- Bring together the findings in an unbiased way and present a balanced summary
To avoid bias, an SR is usually run by at least two researchers, but this may not be possible - if so, it should be noted as a limitation of the review. Professional reviews will often involve large teams looking at complex research questions. Such large studies can take months or even years to complete.
Getting help
Your Subject Librarian can give advice on some of the steps in the process, such as choosing where to search (step 2), developing a search strategy (step 3), running & recording your search (step 4) and managing your search results (step 5). Refer to your supervisor for help with developing your protocol, evaluating the studies and writing up the review.
How does it differ from a systematic literature search?
You may be asked to do a systematic review, when what your supervisor actually wants you to do is a systematic review of the literature. There are some very key differences:
| Systematic review | Systematic literature review |
|---|---|
| Brings together the results of studies to answer a specific question | Provides a subjective summary of the literature on a topic |
| Extensive search covering published and grey literature | Thorough search of published literature |
| Involves a detailed protocol often developed using the PICO framework | Includes a detailed search strategy |
| Usually involves three or more people to eliminate bias | Can be produced by a single person, so open to bias |
| Can take months or years to produce | Weeks or months to produce |
| Includes... - A detailed protocol - Systematic search strategy - Review of results against eligibility criteria - Evaluation of studies - Interpretation and presentation of results - Extensive reference list - Detailed appendices showing search strategies | Includes... - Introduction - Methods - search strategy - Discussion - Conclusion - Long reference list |
A type of review that uses elements of a systematic review might be called a systematised review. Rapid reviews are also conducted using elements of the methodology, as are scoping reviews.
Summary adapted from: Kysh, L. (n.d.) What's in a name? The difference between a systematic review and a literature review and why it matters.
This blog post by the International Food Information Service gives a good, brief summary of the difference.
Other types of review
Other types of review
There are many other types of review including:
- Scoping review\ An initial assessment of the size and scope of research literature on a topic. Can be the first step in a systematic review.
- Rapid review\ Uses systematic review methods to search and critically appraise existing research to find out what is already known about a topic.
- Meta-analysis\ A statistical approach to combining the data derived from from a systematic review.
- Narrative review\ Uses description rather than statistics to analyse the findings from relevant primary studies.
For a more comprehensive overview of review types see the page below from Duke University:
The table on this page gives a comprehensive overview of different types of reviews and the differences between them.
Systematic reviews summarised
The following videos offer two explanations of systematic reviews and what's involved in doing them.
Find existing systematic reviews
The following is a selection of databases giving access to reviews in different subject areas.
Covers reviews in international development. - Campbell Systematic Reviews
An open access journal which publishes systematic reviews, evidence and gap maps, and methods research papers. Topic areas include methods, social welfare, disability, education, international development, crime and justice, business and management. - DoPHER (Database of Promoting Health Effectiveness Reviews)
Health promotion and public health. - PROSPERO
Outlines of systematic reviews. An international database of prospectively registered systematic reviews in health and social care, welfare, public health, education, crime, justice, and international development, where there is a health related outcome. Use to check that your planned review isn't already taking place.
Other guides to doing systematic reviews
The official guide that describes in detail the process of preparing and maintaining Cochrane systematic reviews on the effects of healthcare interventions. - JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis
JBI is an international evidence-based healthcare research organisation. This manual is a comprehensive guide to conducting JBI systematic reviews. It describes in detail the process of planning, undertaking and writing up a systematic review using JBI methods.