LibGuides: APA 7th Edition Referencing Guide1: Systematic reviews

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Note

Systematic reviews are referenced the same as journal articles. However, some of the information may be difficult to locate in a proprietary database like Cochrane or JBI, so examples have been provided for you.

To reference journal articles not on this list, refer to the main APA Guide page on Journal Articles and Databases or the Journals and Journal Article FAQs page.

Systematic review in proprietary databases

The information in some databases is proprietary, meaning it was created or is owned by the database provider and only accessible via that specific database. In these cases, the only referencing differences to a normal journal article are:

The title of the journal is replaced with the proprietary database or publication title
If there is no DOI, use the URL of the database homepage

Surname, A. (Date). Title of systematic review in sentence case: Subtitle in sentence case. Title of Systematic Review Database or Proprietary Publication in Italic Title Case, volume number in italic case(issue number), Article number, page range of article. DOI or proprietary database homepage URL

Min. M., Hancock, D. G., Aromataris, E., Crotti, T, & Boros, C. (2022). Experiences of living with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: A qualitative systematic review. JBI Evidence Synthesis, 20(1), 60-120. https://doi.org/10.11124/JBIES-21-00139

The two main proprietary databases you will find systematic reviews in are Cochrane and JBI.

Cochrane systematic review

Reference list entry

Singh, J., Kour, K., & Jayaram Mahesh, B. (2012). Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors for schizophrenia. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (1), Article CD007967, 1465-1858.
https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD007967.pub2

In-text citations

Page/paragraph numbers are optional for paraphrased information.

Narrative
Singh et al. (2012) describe... (p. 1470).

Parenthetical
... (Singh et al., 2012, p. 1470).

JBI systematic review

Reference list entry

Remington, J., & Winters, K. (2019). Effectiveness of dietary inorganic nitrate for lowering blood pressure in hypertensive adults: A systematic review. JBI Database of Systematic Review and Implementation Reports, 17(3), 365-389.
https://doi.org/10.11124/JBISRIR-2017-003842

In-text citations

Page/paragraph numbers are optional for paraphrased information.

Narrative
Remington and Winters (2019) describe... (p. 371).

Parenthetical
... (Remington & Winters, 2019, p. 371).

Note

It is okay to leave out volume, issue, page, article number and DOI if a systematic review doesn't have them, but include them if it does. Often this information can only be found in the PDF versions, so always look there first.
JBI systematic reviews may be published in different review journals belonging to JBI, such as:
- JBI Evidence Synthesis
- JBI Database of Systematic Reviews and Implementation Reports

The following is a list of Wintec Library databases and other resources that contain proprietary information:

Database	Homepage URL
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews	https://cochranelibrary.com/
Dynamed	https://dynamed.com/
JBI EBP	https://joannabriggs.org
Lippincott Advisor	https://advisor.lww.com
Lippincott Procedures	https://procedures.lww.com

APA 7th Edition Referencing Guide1

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