About systematic reviews and other rigorous review types
A systematic review is a type of literature review that demonstrates your awareness of existing primary research in your field. It is sometimes referred to as secondary research as it is research conducted on research. This guide applies to systematic reviews and other rigorous review types such as rapid reviews, scoping reviews and umbrella reviews. This decision tree may assist you in determining the best type of review for your research.
NOTE: there are many review types. See table 3 in this article for a comprehensive list.
Using this guide
Our guide is designed to help you:
- Understand the purpose of systematic reviews
- Follow a clear process to create your systematic review
- Adhere to relevant standards, guidelines or manuals
- Search for existing reviews
- Develop a research question and key concepts
- Select databases and grey literature sources
Get help
Get help from a librarian when you need support beyond what you can find in this guide. 15-minute bookings are available for students, educators, and researchers.
1 hour consultations are available to HDR students and Researchers only. For medical/biomedical systematic-style reviews, see Request a consultation for details on the review support service.