Systematic reviews
Are you doing a systematic review, or systematic-type review, for your dissertation or research?
Read on to find out how to get started.
What is a systematic review?
A systematic review aims to answer a specific research question by appraising and collating evidence from multiple relevant studies, found through a rigorous and exhaustive literature search.
Through this process, findings from systematic reviews aim to minimise bias, and increase reliability, allowing recommendations to be made to inform practice, research, or decision making.
You can find examples of published systematic reviews on the following resources:
- Cochrane Library – search for systematic reviews in all aspects of health care
- Campbell Collaboration – search for systematic reviews in the social sciences, including education, crime and social welfare
Key stages
Conducting a systematic review is a logical, step-by-step process. There are five key stages.
This resource will guide you through the entire process:
Study resource: Searching for evidence for a systemic review
Or, go directly to each stage below:
Stage 1 - Defining your research question
It’s important to identify a focused research question for your systemic review. The clearer you are, the easier it will be to find relevant evidence in your literature search.
If your question is too broad, you may find too much information; if your question is too specific you may struggle to find relevant information.
Using PICO to structure a focused research question
Stage 2 - Doing your literature search
Undertaking a thorough and comprehensive literature search is central to doing a systemic review.
You are aiming to find as much relevant evidence on your research question as possible. If you miss key studies from your search, it could bias your results.
Planning your search strategySearching for evidence
For further guidance on planning your search, structuring a search strategy, and searching for evidence, visit:
Keep a record of the search strategy you use on each database; you’ll need to include this when you write up your systematic review.
Stage 3 - Selecting your studies
It’s important to keep track of the databases you use to search for evidence, and the number of studies you find on each one.
Use reference management software, such as EndNote, to store all the studies you find from your database searches. This will also help you to identify and remove duplicate studies as part of the study selection process.
Use a flow diagram, such as the PRISMA flow diagram, to record the number of studies you find through your database searches, and select for inclusion in your systematic review.
Introduction to study selection
Study selection and using EndNote
Stage 4 - Critically appraising the studies selected
Stage 5 - Extracting data from the studies selected
Support and guidance
Use the PRISMA Checklist (PDF) for further guidance on the systematic review process.
If you are a researcher doing a systematic review, visit Literature and systematic reviews for further information.
Continue your journey
You may also be interested in:
Further support
Disability support services
Language and communication skills