After developing a well-defined research question, it is essential to determine which type of evidence synthesis/systematic review to conduct. As the researcher, you need to decide the best type of evidence synthesis/systematic review to perform based on your scope, comprehensiveness, time constraints, resources and types of studies included. The decision is challenging with over 40 systematic review/evidence synthesis types (Sutton, Clowes, Preston, & Booth, 2019).
A number of tools are available to help determine which type of review is appropriate for your research project.
Previously known as “What Review is Right for You?, the web-based decision support tool was developed by an international project team (Amog, Pham, Courvoisier, et al 2022). The input panel displays the set of questions that guides the knowledge/evidence synthesis method selection, targeted at either quantitative or qualitative syntheses. The output panel displays suggested knowledge/evidence synthesis methods.
You can review additional information under the Knowledge Synthesis Methods tab. The Knowledge/Evidence Syntheses are organized into two subsets: quantitative or qualitative. Within each subset, relevant information for specific knowledge/evidence synthesis is included: definition, conduct guidelines, reporting guidelines, and examples.
The Evidence Synthesis Comparison Table compares/contrasts select systematic review/evidence synthesis types ranging from narrative/literature reviews to systematic reviews to scoping reviews and others.
Piecing Together Systematic Reviews and Other Evidence Syntheses (ProQuest Ebook Central) by 