Research Guides: Systematic Reviews: Systematic Reviews for Social Sciences

How to Find Systematic Review Studies

Systematic Review Databases
Article Databases

Campbell Collaboration
The international Campbell Collaboration (C2) is a non-profit organization that aims to help people make well-informed decisions about the effects of interventions in the social, behavioral and educational arenas: Methods, Business & Management, Crime & Justice, Disability, Education, International Development (including Nutrition), Knowledge Translation & Implementation, and Social Welfare.
Training resources
Searching for studies: A guide to information retrieval for Campbell Systematic Reviews
An article that explains how to search Campbell Library

Center for Reviews & Dissemination (from University of York)
Systematic reviews and associated economic evaluations on population health to inform health policy and practice

Clearinghouse for Labor Evaluation and Research (CLEAR @ US Department of Labor)
Identifies and summarizes research on labor topics, including descriptive statistical studies and outcome analyses, implementation, and causal impact studies.

Environmental Evidence Library of Evidence Synthesis (from Collaboration for Environmental Evidence)
Systematic reviews and systematic maps of environmental issues approved by the CEE.

EPPI Centre (Institute of Education @ University College London, UK)
Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre (EPPI-Centre) is for developing methods for systematic reviewing and synthesis of research evidence. Explore
Knowledge Library for a list of systematic reviews conducted and supported by the Centre and Database of Promoting Health Effectiveness Reviews (DoPHER)

Evidence Aid
Systematic reviews of relevance to natural disasters, humanitarian crises or major healthcare emergencies that include health outcomes. Collections include the Health of refugees and asylum seekers in Europe, Zika, COVID-19, Ebola, Windstorms, and Prevention and treatment of acute malnutrition.

International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie)
Database of primary studies and systematic reviews in international development.

KTDRR's Registry of Systematic Reviews (Center on Knowledge Translation for Disability and Rehabilitation Research @ American Institutes for Research)
A registry of systematic reviews on disability and rehabilitation topics

Source: Evidence Portals and Databases page at Campbell Collaboration

To find systematic reviews already published on your topic or in the field, search article databases such as:

      EconLit
ASSIA: Applied Social Sciences Indexes & Abstracts
  ERIC
  Medline (Ovid)
  PAIS Index (Public Affairs Information Service Index)
Social Sciences Premium Collection (ProQuest)
Search across a range of ProQuest’s specialist index and full-text social sciences databases, covering subject areas including Politics,
Sociology, Education, Linguistics, and Criminal Justice

Once log on to the database:

1. Enter keywords for the topic

2. Add search terms for systematic review*:

  Systematic review
Systematic literature review
Systematic scoping review
Systematic narrative review
Systematic qualitative review
Systematic evidence review
Systematic quantitative review
Systematic meta-review
Systematic critical review
Systematic mixed studies review
Systematic mapping review
Systematic Cochrane review
Systematic Campbell review
Systematic search and review
Systematic integrative review
*Source: Adapted from PubMed search filter for Systematic Reviews

3. Depending on the topic and the field, use alternative search terms relative to systematic reviews, instead. For example, for non-clinical studies of effectiveness such as policy or program evaluations *:

      Quasi-experiment or quasi-experimental
      Comparison group or comparative study
      Policy experiment
      Natural experiment
      Policy evaluation
      Social experiment
      Interrupted time series, time-series studies, time series analysis(ITS),
      Before and after study, controlled before and after study (CBA)
      Longitudinal study, cohort study
      Impact evaluation, impact assessment, outcome evaluation

      *Source: Petticrew, M., & Roberts, H. (2006). Systematic reviews in the social sciences  : a practical guide. Blackwell Pub.

3. Connect search terms of a similar concept by Boolean Operator OR, and search terms of a different concept by Boolean Operator AND, then run Search.

Search Example At EconLit or PAIS Index database
(healthcare OR "health care" OR "health services") AND ("impact evaluation" OR "impact assessment" OR "outcome evaluation" OR "program evaluation" OR "policy evaluation")

Social Science Reference on Systematic Reviews

Sage Research Methods Online This link opens in a new window SAGE Research Methods is a research methods tool with links over 175,000 pages of SAGE’s renowned book, journal and reference content
Abbreviation: srmo
Vendor: Sage Publishing
Subjects: *General / Multi-Subject, Communication, Rhetoric & Composition, Urban and Regional Planning
Type: Citation Management, Datasets / Statistics, E-Book Collections, E-Journal Collections, Research Starter, Streaming Video

Search this Social Sciences research tool to learn about what a systemic review is, how to conduct it, and what tools help you to do it.

References

See [Reference List] tab of this guide

Campbell Collaboration Systematic Review

Campbell Collaboration This link opens in a new window
The international Campbell Collaboration (C2) is a non-profit organization that aims to help people make well-informed decisions about the effects of interventions in the social, behavioral and educational arenas. The Campbell Library consists of the Social, Psychological, Educational, and Criminological Trials Register (C2-SPECTR) and the Register of C2 Systematic Reviews of Interventions and Policy Evaluation (C2-RIPE).
Abbreviation: campbell
Vendor: Campbell Collaboration
Subjects: Public Administration and Policy, Public Safety and Security, Sociology, Urban and Regional Planning
Type: Datasets / Statistics, E-Book Collections, Grant Information, Open Access

Mission: "The Campbell Collaboration promotes positive social and economic change through the production and use of systematic reviews and other evidence synthesis for evidence-based policy and practice."

Campbell Collaboration’s core areas of focus:

crime and justice
education
international development
social welfare

What is a Campbell Systematic Review and what must it contain?

Evidence Synthesis Tools

Training

Campbell Methods Series:

Searching for studies: a guide to information retrieval for Campbell systematic reviews
- "This guide’s fundamental premise is that information retrieval is an essential component of the systematic review process, analogous to the data collection phase of a primary research study, and requires the expertise of TSC, an information specialist (IS) or a librarian" (Kugley et al., 2017, p.8).
- The guide focuses on searching for studies on the effectiveness of interventions (p.10)

Resources

Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis by Harris Cooper Providing researchers with a practical and accessible advice, the Fourth Edition of the lauded Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis offers thoroughly updated information. Author Harris M. Cooper draws on more than 30 years of experience to show readers how to conduct a comprehensive synthesis of past research. Key Updates of the Fourth Edition: - Presents an updated version of Cooper′s easy-to-follow seven-step research synthesis process - Highlights the critical questions to ask about synthesis methodology at each step and the identification of "best practices" - Contains two new chapters giving expanded treatments of gathering information from studies and interpreting the evidence from a research synthesis - Provides completely updated material on techniques for searching the literature with an emphasis on new technologies and the Internet - Includes a discussion of recent advances and issues in meta-analysis statistical techniques - Offers new standards for reporting meta-analyses results - Incorporates new research syntheses drawn from the fields of education, social/developmental psychology, and health throughout the book The book is written in plain language with numerous examples. Each chapter concludes with exercises for use as class projects. Readers who are engaged in their first research synthesis will find ample guidance to help them through the process. Experienced research synthesists will find lucid discussions of complex problems.
Call Number: H62 .C5859 2010
Publication Date: 2009
Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review by Andrew Booth; Anthea Sutton; Diana Papaioannou Showing you how to take a structured and organized approach to a wide range of literature review types, this book helps you to choose which approach is right for your research. Packed with constructive tools, examples, case studies and hands-on exercises, the book covers the full range of literature review techniques.New to This Edition: Full re-organization takes you step-by-step through the process from beginning to end New chapter showing you how to choose the right method for your project Practical guidance on integrating qualitative and quantitative data New coverage of rapid reviews Comprehensive inclusion of literature review tools, including concept analysis, scoping and mapping With an emphasis on the practical skills, this guide is essential for any student or researcher needing to get from first steps to a successful literature review.
Call Number: LB1047.3 .B66 2016
Publication Date: 2016 (2nd Ed.)
Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis by Jacqueline Corcoran; Vijayan Pillai; Julia H. Littell When used in tandem, systematic reviews and meta-analysis-- two distinct but highly compatible approaches to research synthesis-- form a powerful, scientific approach to analyzing previous studies. But to see their full potential, a social work researcher must be versed in the foundationalprocesses underlying them. This pocket guide to Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis illuminates precisely that practical groundwork.In clear, step-by-step terms, the authors explain how to format topics, locate and screen studies, extract and assess data, pool effect sizes, determine bias, and interpret the results, showing readers how to combine reviewing and meta-analysis correctly and effectively. Each chapter containsvivid social work examples and concludes with a concise summary and notes on further reading, while the book's glossary and handy checklists and sample search and data extraction forms maximize the boo'ks usefulness.Highlighting the concepts necessary to understand, critique, and conduct research synthesis, this brief and highly readable introduction is a terrific resource for students and researchers alike.
Call Number: H62 .L497 2008
Publication Date: 2008
SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH: METHODOLOGY, PERSPECTIVES AND APPLICATION by Olaf Zawacki-Richter (Editor) et al. international researchers of the field describe and discuss the systematic review method in its application to research in education. Alongside fundamental methodical considerations, reflections and practice examples are included and provide an introduction and overview on systematic reviews in education research.
Call Number: eBook ( open access book)
Publication Date: 2020
Systematic Reviews in the Social Sciences by Mark Petticrew; Helen Roberts . . . This book, written by two highly-respected social scientists, provides an overview of systematic literature review methods: Outlining the rationale and methods of systematic reviews; Giving worked examples from social science and other fields; Applying the practice to all social science disciplines; It requires no previous knowledge, but takes the reader through the process stage by stage; Drawing on examples from such diverse fields as psychology, criminology, education, transport, social welfare, public health, and housing and urban policy, among others. Including detailed sections on assessing the quality of both quantitative, and qualitative research; searching for evidence in the social sciences; meta-analytic and other methods of evidence synthesis; publication bias; heterogeneity; and approaches to dissemination.
Call Number: eBook
Publication Date: 2008