Systematic Reviews (SRs): Process

There are many steps involved with conducting a Systematic Review, even before you begin collecting literature.

After you determine there is a need in a particular area, you will need to develop a Protocol that will be used to guide the entire systematic review process. The protocol should be thought out and registered before the studies are collected and analysed. Links to guidelines for developing a Protocol can be found in the Methodology & Standards page.

Here are the basic steps required for a Protocol:

1. Develop a research question
2. Define inclusion and exclusion criteria
3. Outline a preliminary search strategy (very basic)
4. Study inclusion evaluation methods
5. Documentation
6. Data extraction
7. Quality Assessment
8. Data Synthesis
9. Dissemination Plan

Once you have the Protocol in place and registered, you can begin the task of collecting and analyzing the studies for the review.

1. Find the evidence, document search
   • Set up current awareness search updates as planned
   • Manage references
   • Set permissions for team members
   • Obtain full text documents
2. Select studies
   • follow the inclusion/exclusion guidelines, document excluded studies
   • there is software to assist with this
3. Extract data
   • use a form or software
4. Assess quality
5. Data synthesis
   • Meta-analysis and/or narrative synthesis
   • Describe results
6. Write report
   • Follow standards for journal, sponsor (PRISMA, MOOSE, etc)
7. Archive review data, materials
   • keep all data
8. Disseminate findings
   • publish, present at a conference, etc.
9. Update as needed