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Systematic Reviews

Texas Medical Center Library

The Texas Medical Center (TMC) Library Liaison Librarians, are information specialists. They can assist researchers with systematic or scoping reviews. There are two levels to this service: the Basic Service, which is available to all affiliated members of the TMC Library; and the Full Service, which is not available to students. The Full Service is application-based, and services will only be provided once your application is approved. 

Additional information regarding both levels of services can be found on the pages Basic Service and Full Service. 

Basic Service

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

Researchers are expected to develop their own search and be responsible for citation management. The librarian can provide instruction for any questions about these stages of the process. This is the service that students have access to, which is based on the TMC Library's Student Assignment Policy. 

Full Service

The Full Service is an application-based service, meaning researchers must apply for these services to qualify. The Full Service is only available to those with an institutional status of: Faculty, Staff (GRAs, GAs, not applicable), Resident, Fellow, or Post-Doc. These services are not available to students. Below is a broad overview and scope of what the service entails: 

  • Provide overview of the systematic review (SR) process
  • Inform researcher of SR standards (IOM, PRISMA, Cochrane)
  • Suggest databases for searching
  • Design the main search strategy
  • Translate the search across multiple databases
  • De-duplicate and merge the citations
  • Deliver citations in citation management software 
  • Provide basic guidance on screening process
  • Provide researcher with publication documentation (Methods section, PRISMA, etc.)
  • Instruct how to obtain full text of articles through ILL if necessary
  • Run update of searches prior to publication (as required by standards)
  • At least 2 meetings required 
  • Librarian listed as contributing author is required for this option. This is in compliance with criteria for authorship outlined by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. 

For more information on how to apply for these services, please see our page Full Service.