Health sciences and medicine
Creating a systematic or scoping review is a large project and may take many months to complete.
Searching for evidence happens towards the beginning of the project. The searching phase includes creating, testing, and refining a search strategy. A systematic search aims to be comprehensive and reproducible.
After the literature has been gathered, the next steps can progress. These steps include selecting studies and, extracting, analysing and interpreting data.
The Library offers assistance with the searching phase and records management (such as using EndNote). Please get in touch with an HSM faculty librarian for assistance.
Guidelines
As topics and sources of evidence vary widely across disciplines, various approaches to searching exist. Some key publishers of systemic reviews have made guidelines available, listed below.
Registering a protocol
- Open Science Framework (OSF)
OSF is a free, open platform to support your research and enable collaboration. Set up a free account to register your protocol.
Reporting Guidelines
- PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses)
PRISMA is an evidence-based minimum set of items for reporting in systematic reviews and meta-analyses. PRISMA primarily focuses on the reporting of reviews evaluating the effects of interventions, but can also be used as a basis for reporting systematic reviews with objectives other than evaluating interventions (e.g. evaluating aetiology, prevalence, diagnosis or prognosis). Includes checklists and PRISMA flow diagram templates. - PRISMA for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR)
"The checklist contains 20 essential reporting items and 2 optional items to include when completing a scoping review. Scoping reviews serve to synthesize evidence and assess the scope of literature on a topic. Among other objectives, scoping reviews help determine whether a systematic review of the literature is warranted." -- website
Example papers
Jackson, M., Kang, M., Furness, J., & Kemp-Smith, K. (2022). Aquatic exercise and mental health: A scoping review. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 66, Article 102820. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2022.102820
Krzyzaniak, N., Forbes, C., Clark, J., Scott, A., Del Mar, C., & Bakhit, M. (Accepted Manuscript). Antibiotics versus no treatment for asymptomatic bacteriuria in aged care residents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of General Practice, Article 0059. https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2022.0059
Tang, X., Patterson, P., MacKenzie-Shalders, K., van Herwerden, L. A., Bishop, J., Rathbone, E., Honeyman, D., & Reidlinger, D. P. (2021). Workplace programmes for supporting breast-feeding: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Public Health Nutrition, 24(6), 1501–1513. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980020004012
Critical Appraisal
- CASP
Free downloadable checklists to help you more easily and accurately perform critical appraisal across a number of different study types including systematic reviews, randomised controlled trials, qualitative studies, cohort studies, diagnostic studies, case control studies, cross-sectional studies, clinical prediction rule and economic evaluation. - CEBM - Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine
Useful tools and downloads for the critical appraisal of different types of medical evidence including systematic reviews, diagnostics, prognosis, RCTs, IPD (individual patient data metanalysis) reviews and qualitative studies. - JBI
JBI’s critical appraisal tools assist in assessing the trustworthiness, relevance and results of published papers. Suitable for analytical cross sectional studies, case control studies, case reports, case series, cohort studies, diagnostic test accuracy studies, economic evaluations, prevalence studies, qualitative research, quasi-experimental studies, randomised controlled trials, systematic reviews, expert opinions, narratives and policy.
Search Strategy
- PRESS Peer Review of Electronic Search Strategies
Detailed recommendation on search strategies for systematic reviews. Includes checklist and practical advice.
