Introduction to systematic and evidence synthesis reviews

A systematic review is a specific type of literature review methodology, that attempts to find all published and unpublished material to answer a research question. It is one of the most common types of evidence synthesis reviews produced in health, psychology and medicine. However, there are also other types of evidence synthesis reviews, such as scoping reviews, meta-analyses, realist reviews and rapid reviews.

This session will introduce you to the most common types of reviews, and give an overview of the stages of a systematic review. It will also cover ways to check if your review is viable and guidelines you need to follow, such as PRISMA.

Please note this session does not cover tools for risk of bias or data analysis.

Intended audience

PGRs and staff who are considering conducting a systematic review, or other type of evidence synthesis review.

Learning objectives

This session will help you

• Have an overview of what review types are available, and specifically, what a systematic review involves.
• Introduce you to tools and frameworks to refine and conceptualise your review questions, such as PICO.
• Check if your review is viable, including searching for existing reviews, reviews in progress, and trial searches on your topic.
• Look at the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines.
• Examine what to include in an evidence synthesis review protocol, and where to register protocols.

Before the session

You may wish to look at the ‘What is a systematic review?” guide beforehand.