Systematic Reviews

This service is for students, and for researchers who want to perform their own reviews. Below is a broad overview and scope of what the service entails: 

• Provide overview of the systematic review (SR) process
• Recommend Systematic Review Asynchronous Courses
• Inform researcher of SR standards (IOM, PRISMA, Cochrane)
• Assist researcher with resources to help formulate the research question
• Suggest databases for searching
• Acts as a consultant for the search strategy
• 1 meeting required

Want to Learn how to do a systematic review?

The TMC Library will be collocating Library-approved courses on how to do systematic review projects and/or how to do systematic review literature searching, as these projects require advanced-level literature searching skills.

These courses are asynchronous materials that have been published through other health science professionals. The Library recommends that for those who have never done a systematic review or who would like to understand the whole process to complete one of these courses before starting a review or before creating systematic review assignments/projects. 

• Introduction to Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis by Johns Hopkins University

• MichiganX: Advanced Literature Searching in the Health Sciences by University of Michigan 

If you are just starting out and just want to learn about the process, an initial consultation is all that is necessary because the liaison librarian will provide an overview. However, if you are completely new to the process, please consider completing the systematic review courses below: 

• Introduction to Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis by Johns Hopkins University
• MichiganX: Advanced Literature Searching in the Health Sciences by University of Michigan 

If you have an assignment/thesis/dissertation/etc. and have a research topic question in mind already, consult the following resources to come prepared for the initial consultation:

1. Your advisor/supervisor/professor/principal investigator to discuss the research question first. The TMC Library Liaison Librarians cannot help you choose your research question. Although they can provide feedback on the question you bring to the consultation.
2. Utilize The Research Question page in this LibGuide to help you formulate the research question as the question is the foundation to any systematic/scoping review. 
3. Check out the TMC Library's Search Tutorials and YouTube Channel to see what search resources you have access to before you begin preliminary searching or planning of the review
4. Check out Planning and Protocols before settling on a topic/question. The protocol is inherently a part of the systematic review methodology according to both PRISMA and Cochrane. The librarian can discuss the importance of protocols and how to develop one in the initial consultation.
5. Come ready with questions! Questions demonstrate that a researcher has invested time in researching the process and wants to develop understanding. It also assists the librarian in identifying what resources to provide and what suggestions are best for the researcher. 

Future meetings with the assigned librarian, is at the discretion of the librarian. Researchers requiring multiple meetings for assistance with their systematic/scoping review, may need to provide proof of work such as a protocol, search strategy, etc. to the liaison librarian upon request. 

To schedule additional meetings, fill out the Consultation Form. 

Searching consultations are the most popular consultation types. For systematic review level searching, most users will need to learn how to search databases first as the process is far different from typical searching behavior in search engines like Google or FireFox. 

If you need resources to learn how to develop a search strategy, consult the following:

• The TMC Library Databases LibGuide: this is for those who want to learn how to translate a research question into a search strategy, which is necessary for systematic/scoping reviews
• The TMC Library YouTube channel for all class recordings and tutorials
• MichiganX: Advanced Literature Searching in the Health Sciences by University of Michigan 

For advanced search assistance check out the more advanced resources below:

• Searching 101 Database Cheat Sheet -- this resource was developed by the University of Michigan Library 
• Technical Supplement to Chapter 4: Searching for and selecting studies from Cochrane. Read Chapter Four before utilizing this resource.
• Controlled vocabulary and text words from Cochrane Library