We wanted to highlight the stages of a systematic review where the Library Research Services Team can provide help and support.
 |
| We can advise on any of the stages in red and with reference management. |
A systematic review is a type of literature review that attempts to find all published and unpublished material on a specific research question. The studies found are then appraised against specific eligibility criteria. Data is extracted and synthesized from the eligible studies to produce a summary of evidence from the relevant research.
Scoping Search
- To identify existing systematic reviews in the research area.
- To check the scope of the research available and help inform the research question.
- To help find appropriate databases, keywords and subject terms for the search strategy section of the protocol.
- Full search strategy including the use of keywords, subject terms, truncation, wildcards, adjacency searching and other search options - in a documented manner that could be replicated by other researchers.
- Perform the search strategy on appropriate databases e.g. Medline, Embase, PsycINFO.
- Translate and perform the search across different interfaces.
- Obtaining the full text of the studies which fit the eligibility criteria including those not immediately available through University journal subscriptions.
- To identify and obtain eligible studies which were not indexed in the literature databases.
- Could include:
- Hand searching (browsing) of key journals.
- References from related systematic reviews.
- Grey literature - reports/publications from the government, drug companies, charities etc.
- Re-running saved searches or setting up search alerts to identify new research in the area.
- Use of software such as EndNote or RefWorks to store store, manage and de-duplicate references.
- Use of codes and fields within the software for use at the screening stage of the review.
- Creation of bibliographies for publication.