Research Skills

Systematic reviews

Systematic reviews are a comprehensive scientific study of ALL evidence about a topic.

They follow a structured process. They have to, because if the methodology is not sound, the conclusions won't be sound.

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How do systematic reviews differ from literature reviews?

They do not have a selection process of study material based on a hypothesis like literature reviews. They select ALL material that is relevant to the topic. They are therefore unbiased.

This video is an introduction to the steps involved in doing a systematic review and is a good place to start if you aren't sure what's required:

Center for Evidence Synthesis in Health. (2018). The steps of a systematic review [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FQSsnaAtOU 

What needs to be included in the reviews?

• sources from all geographical regions
• grey literature as well as published literature (see below for a definition of grey literature)
• sources that have a sound methodology. If they don't, they are not a valid study and cannot be used

This video from Yale University Library explains Systematic Reviews in a bit more depth:

Yale University Library. (n.d.). Systematic searches #1: Introduction [Video]. Yale University. https://library.medicine.yale.edu/tutorials/948

Grey literature

Grey literature is literature that has been published informally and is non-commercial. It isn't peer reviewed, but can still be a valid form of literature. Grey literature can be in the form of:

• government documents
• conference papers
• statistics
• infographics
• dissertations and theses
• clinical trials

For an exhaustive list of types of grey literature, visit GreyNet.

Systematic review standards

The best way to approach your systematic review is to use a standard.

Standards provide the systematic framework for collecting and analysing all the sources on your topic.

Commonly used standards include:

PRISMA - for systematic reviews of qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-method studies that evaluate the effects of health interventions. This standard tends to be used at Wintec for Sports Science and Physiotherapy systematic reviews.

PICO - for quantitative clinical studies. This standard tends to be used at Wintec for post-graduate Nursing systematic reviews.

PICo - for qualitative clinical studies. This standard tends to be also used at Wintec for post-graduate Nursing systematic reviews.