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Systematic Reviews and Other Evidence Synthesis Types Guide

Systematic Reviews and Other Evidence Synthesis Types Guide

Before You Start

Are You Ready to Conduct an Evidence Synthesis?Before you start, read this Guide's Introduction, especially the Are You Ready to Conduct an Evidence Synthesis? page.

You may also want to download or print out the applicable guideline/checklist for the proposed evidence synthesis from the Evidence Synthesis - Resources and Guidelines section and the UT Southwestern Library Systematic Review Process for reference as you read through the steps in the evidence synthesis/systematic review process.

Evidence Synthesis Steps

This ES/SR process is adapted from articles by Tsafnat el al (2014) and Muka et al (2020). Sixteen tasks are organized into five phases:

As the ES/SR process is iterative, tasks may not always be sequential. While the referenced articles focus on systematic reviews, many of the tasks are applicable to other types of systematic reviews, evidence syntheses and/or complex search projects.

Primary or shared responsibility by the SR/ES Team or the UT Southwestern Librarian (Librarian) is noted in the ES/SR Process. As a member of the ES/SR Team the Librarian follows applicable guidelines, standards and best practices when developing the ES/SR literature search strategy with the ES/SR Team and performing the searches in multiple databases. It is recommended that ES/SR Team members review the applicable guidelines throughout the project. (Higgins JPT, 2020; IOM (Institute of Medicine), 2011; Liberati et al., 2009; Moher, Liberati, Tetzlaff, & Altman, 2009; Moher et al., 2015)

References

  • Liberati, A., Altman, D. G., Tetzlaff, J., Mulrow, C., Gøtzsche, P. C., Ioannidis, J. P., … Moher, D. (2009). The PRISMA statement for reporting systematic reviews and meta-analyses of studies that evaluate health care interventions: explanation and elaboration. PLoS medicine, 6(7), e1000100. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000100
  • Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D. G., & PRISMA Group (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA statement. PLoS medicine, 6(7), e1000097. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000097
  • Moher, D., Shamseer, L., Clarke, M., Ghersi, D., Liberati, A., Petticrew, M., … PRISMA-P Group (2015). Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 statement. Systematic reviews, 4(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/2046-4053-4-1
  • Muka, T., Glisic, M., Milic, J., Verhoog, S., Bohlius, J., Bramer, W., Chowdhury, R., & Franco, O. H. (2020). A 24-step guide on how to design, conduct, and successfully publish a systematic review and meta-analysis in medical research. European journal of epidemiology, 35(1), 49–60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-019-00576-5
  • Tsafnat, G., Glasziou, P., Choong, M. K., Dunn, A., Galgani, F., & Coiera, E. (2014). Systematic review automation technologies. Systematic reviews, 3, 74. https://doi.org/10.1186/2046-4053-3-74