Research Guides: Systematic Reviews: Home

Overview

What is a Systematic Review?

A type of review to identify, appraise, and synthesize all the empirical evidence that meets pre-specified eligibility criteria to answer a specific research question.
A systematic review produces more reliable findings by using explicit, systematic methods selected to minimize bias. This reliability instills confidence in the research outcomes and informs effective decision-making. Understanding what has been found on the same thing from multiple studies helps make decisions and practices based on scientific evidence (Cochrane Library, 2020).
Read more. . .

About this Guide

This Guide was created by a joint effort of the College of Medicine Maguire Medical Library and the University Libraries at FSU to help you start your systematic review process and find tools and guidance at each stage. Whereas a broad range of resources and advice for SRs are presented throughout the Guide, some specialized resources and tips for systematic reviews in social and behavioral sciences are available on the Social Sciences SR page of this Guide.

Currently, we do not have the staffing capacity to participate in the entire systematic review process, but we encourage you to contact your subject librarian for assistance in developing a study protocol.

Which Review Method is Right for You?

Before you start, know whether a systematic review is the right type for your study. Ask yourself the following questions first:

1. What are the goals of your review?

To identify one or a small number of research articles that meet a narrow set of criteria.
To learn about the body of research, including its characteristics (volume of evidence, type of research, terms, etc.)?
To identify all records on a specific topic through an unbiased, transparent, and reproducible search?

2. What resources and time frame do you have to conduct the review study?

Depending on the goals and available resources, systematic reviews might not be the best method for your review. Check out the following resources to decide the correct method for your study.

An interactive survey (from the Univ. of Manitoba Libraries) that helps to choose the correct review method for the given research question:
A pdf document of Q&As on choosing the suitable review method for knowledge synthesis of quantitative studies.
(from St. Michael's Hospital (in Canada)
A decision-tree map (from Yale Health Science Library)

Types of Reviews

Here is a list of some types that you might find helpful:

For more information, click here and view Table 1 in this article.

(Adapted from the Mayo Clinic Library Systematic Reviews Overview LibGuide).

Resources on different types of reviews

Selected References on Scoping Reviews and Umbrella Reviews
Scoping reviews synthesize evidence and assess the scope of literature on a topic. Among other objectives, they help determine whether a systematic review of the literature is warranted.

"Systematic reviews, scoping reviews and other evidence syntheses" from Brock University Library
"Guidance for conducting systematic scoping reviews" from International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare (2015)
"PRISMA for Scoping Reviews" from PRISMA
"PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and Explanation" from Annals of Internal Medicine (2018)
"Summarizing systematic reviews: methodological development, conduct and reporting of an umbrella review approach" from International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare (2015)
"Umbrella reviews: Evidence synthesis with overviews of reviews and meta-epidemiologic studies" by Biondi-Zoccai, G. (Ed.) (2016)

References

See [Reference List] tab of this guide