This form is to be filled in prior to contacting a liaison librarian for a consultation. See the Contact Us tab in this guide and email your request with the completed form to the appropriate liaison librarian.
What is a systematic review?
We recommend that you closely follow the steps on this guide to create your systematic review. A systematic review (SR) is a type of literature review. Unlike other forms of review, where authors can include any articles they consider appropriate, a systematic review aims to remove the reviewer's bias as far as possible by following a clearly defined, transparent process. The Cochrane video below gives a clear summary, but you should find examples and methodologies for your specific discipline as there are various approaches to systematic reviews that differ from those in Medicine.
The production of SRs has been prolific. Since the mid-nineties published SRs have increased by 4676% (Brackett & Batten, 2020), but concerns are held for their quality and usefulness. Before embarking on a systematic review, consider the following:
Have you checked if an SR already exists on your topic? Check for protocols and published reviews
Do you have adequate time and resources, to commit around 12 months to the review?
SRs should not be undertaken by just one person. Cochrane recommends multidisciplinary teams work best
To ensure rigour, follow established standards and guidelines
Is an SR the right review type for your topic and/or research question? You may find this decision tree helpful
Broaden your knowledge about systematic reviews further, by reading as much as you can about the process and find examples of good reviews eg. (Bastian, 2021)
