Systematic Review: Introduction
This guide presents tools and advice for conducting systematic reviews.
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Using This Guide
This guide presents tools and advice for conducting Systematic Reviews, including:
- Outline of the Systematic Review process
- Formulating an effective search strategy
- Selecting & searching databases
- Managing search results
What is a Systematic Review
A systematic review attempts to collate all empirical evidence that fits pre-specified eligibility criteria in order to answer a specific research question. It uses explicit, systematic methods that are selected with a view to minimizing bias, thus providing more reliable findings from which conclusions can be drawn and decisions made. The key characteristics of a systematic review are:
- a clearly stated set of objectives with pre-defined eligibility criteria for studies;
- an explicit, reproducible methodology;
- a systematic search that attempts to identify all studies that would meet the eligibility criteria;
- an assessment of the validity of the findings of the included studies, for example through the assessment of risk of bias; and
- a systematic presentation, and synthesis, of the characteristics and findings of the included studies.
(Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions, 2011)
- Last Updated: Apr 3, 2023 11:01 AM
- URL: https://libguides.ucd.ie/systematic
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