LibGuides: Systematic Reviews and Other Evidence Synthesis Types Guide: Umbrella Review

Umbrella Review

Umbrella review – is a review of systematic reviews that compiles evidence from existing systematic reviews on a shared topic into one accessible and usable document. It may be conducted when there are competing interventions.

Featured Journal Articles

Choi, G. J., & Kang, H. (2023, Jan). Introduction to Umbrella Reviews as a Useful Evidence-Based Practice. J Lipid Atheroscler, 12(1), 3-11. https://doi.org/10.12997/jla.2023.12.1.3
Fusar-Poli, P., & Radua, J. (2018, Aug). Ten simple rules for conducting umbrella reviews. Evid Based Ment Health, 21(3), 95-100. https://doi.org/10.1136/ebmental-2018-300014
McKenzie, J. E., & Brennan, S. E. (2017, Sep 8). Overviews of systematic reviews: great promise, greater challenge. Syst Rev, 6(1), 185. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-017-0582-8

Guidelines and Best Practices

Aromataris, E., Fernandez, R., Godfrey, C. M., Holly, C., Khalil, H., & Tungpunkom, P. (2015, Sep). Summarizing systematic reviews: methodological development, conduct and reporting of an umbrella review approach. Int J Evid Based Healthc, 13(3), 132-140. https://doi.org/10.1097/xeb.0000000000000055

Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions, Current Version
See: Pollock, M., Fernandes, R. M., Becker, L. A., Pieper, D., & Hartling, L. (2023). Chapter V: Overviews of reviews. In J.P.T. Higgins, J. Thomas, J. Chandler, M. Cumpston, T. Li, M.J. Page, & V.A. Welch (Eds), Cochrane handbook for systematic reviews of interventions (version 6.4, updated August 2023). Cochrane. Available from https://training.cochrane.org/handbook.

Protocol Guidelines

PRISMA for Systematic Review Protocols (PRISMA-P)
Aims to facilitate the development and reporting of systematic review protocols. It consists of a 17-item checklist intended to facilitate the preparation and reporting of a robust protocol for the systematic review.
PRISMA Extensions
Several extensions of the PRISMA Statement have been developed to facilitate the reporting of different types or aspects of systematic reviews.

Protocol Registration

PROSPERO
An international prospective register of systematic reviews. Key details from new Cochrane protocols are automatically uploaded into PROSPERO. It is produced by the Centre of Reviews and Dissemination, University of York, United Kingdom.

Note: It is recommended that the SR Team register their protocol in PROSPERO.

Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions, 2nd ed. (Wiley Online Library) by Julian P. T. Higgins; James Thomas; Jacqueline Chandler; Miranda Cumpston; et. al. Contains essential guidance for preparing and maintaining Cochrane Reviews of the effects of health interventions. This book will be of interest to anyone undertaking systematic reviews of interventions outside Cochrane, and many of the principles and methods presented are appropriate for systematic reviews addressing research questions other than effects of interventions.
ISBN: 9781119536611
Publication Date: 2019-09-23
JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis, 2024 by Edoardo Aromataris; Craig Lockwood; Kylie Porritt; Bianca Pilla; Zoe Jordan
ISBN: 9780648848820

See: Aromataris, E., Fernandez, R., Godfrey, C., Holly, C., Khalil, H., & Tungpunkom, P. (2024). Umbrella reviews. In E. Aromataris, C. Lockwood, K. Porritt, B. Pilla, & Z. Jordan (Eds.), JBI manual for evidence synthesis. JBI. https://doi.org/10.46658/JBIMES-24-08
Umbrella Reviews (Springer Nature) by Giuseppe Biondi-Zoccai This book is an ideal guide to umbrella reviews, overviews of reviews, and meta-epidemiologic studies for evidence synthesis. Discusses how research is conducted at different levels: primary research, which consists of original studies; secondary research, which comprises qualitative reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses; and a novel level of research, which is based on the analysis and pooling of reviews and meta-analysis. This book is the first to focus solely on this new type of research design, which permits a comprehensive and powerful synthesis of scientific evidence in medicine as well as in many other fields in order to inform decision-making.
ISBN: 9783319256535
Publication Date: 2016-02-17