Systematic Reviews & Evidence Synthesis Methods

Before you begin your review, think through and prepare for the project ahead. While some elements of a systematic review may occur concurrently, it is helpful to think through them as steps in the process of conducting a review. The following pages will provide more information on these steps:

1. Formulate research question
2. Define eligibility criteria
3. Develop & implement search strategy
4. Screen results & extract the data
5. Critically appraise selected studies
6. Synthesize results
7. Report findings

How you complete and report each step will depend on the set of guidelines you choose to follow.

The above are examples of standards that have been developed to guide a team of authors through the steps of a systematic review. The standards are built to ensure consistency of methodology, reporting, and reproducibility across reviews. It isn't always clear which standards to follow. Our guidance is to:

• Consult with your librarian
• Consider your discipline
• Find model published-reviews and seek the guidelines followed within
• Consider where your team plans to register a protocol
• Consider where your team wants to publish a finalized review

Your investigative work should help you identify accepted standards for your field, and then if specific standards are required for where you plan to register your protocol and for where you hope to publish your review.