Systematic Reviews in the Health Sciences

This guide will introduce you to the Systematic Review process.

Rutgers Health Sciences Libraries' SR and ScR Services

Systematic Review and Scoping Review Services

Rutgers Biomedical Health Sciences (RBHS) Libraries offer Systematic Review and Scoping Services for Rutgers University students, staff and faculty. The 2011 Institute of Medicine study, Finding What Works in Health Care: Standards for Systematic Reviews recommends that the systematic review team should “work with a librarian or other information specialist trained in performing systematic reviews to plan the search strategy.” The health sciences librarians are happy to partner with you as you begin this considerable process. Please visit the page Systematic Review and Scoping Review Services | Rutgers University Libraries for more detailed information. If you have any question, please contact the RBHS Health Sciences Reference [rbhs_reference@libraries.rutgers.edu].

Two levels of SR and ScR services offered by the health sciences librarians:

	Consultation	Collaboration
Projects	Projects initiated by Students, Faculty, Staff, Fellows, and Residents. NOTE: For student-initiated projects and capstones, we offer consultation service only	Projects initiated by and with PIs being Faculty, Staff, Fellows, and Residents. NOTE: This service is not applicable to students projects and capstones.
Services / Contributions Offered	Guidance with systematic review development processes. Referral to relevant handbooks and guidance documents Referral to relevant reporting standards Guidance on timelines, skills and competencies required to complete a systematic review. Protocol development Instruction on where to find existing protocols Feedback on initial protocol draft Question formulation Feedback on framing of research question and advice to how to translate into a search strategy Search strategy Referral to searching tutorials for methods and techniques (classes, on line) Feedback on initial search strategy, including trouble shooting of specific issues Advice on relevant electronic databases and sources to search Advice on adaption of strategy for different databases Bibliographic organization tools Advice on using EndNote, manuscript templates, organizing citations, etc. Documentation and search strategy reporting Advice on documenting search strategies, search results and reporting of methods in the manuscript	Guidance with systematic review development processes. Referral to relevant handbooks and guidance documents Referral to relevant reporting standards Guidance on timelines, skills and competencies required to complete a systematic review. Protocol development Instruction on where to find existing protocols Identification of example protocols Identification of existing systematic reviews on the same topic (if any) Feedback on initial protocol draft Question formulation Feedback on framing of research question Search strategy Translation of research question into draft search strategy Advice on relevant electronic databases and sources to search Execution of search in all relevant databases Searching of grey literature when needed Bibliographic organization tools Advice on using EndNote, manuscript templates, organizing citations, etc. Contributions to the Methods section Write the sources and search methodology section
Agreement	Librarian Acknowledgement in Scholarly Output	Co-authorship is required.
Service Request	Contact: rbhs_librarians@libraries.rutgers.edu or Request a Consultation	Contact: rbhs_librarians@libraries.rutgers.edu or Request to Collaborate

Librarian worksheet for Systematic Review

Before making an appointment with a Librarian, please complete this worksheet to better define your search needs.

Librarian Worksheet for Systematic or Scoping Reviews

Request Books or Articles

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is a service that is provided by the Smith Library to obtain materials not in our collection in a timely manner. The Library also has a Pull & Copy Service; articles are retrieved from the Library’s collection and copied or scanned for the requestor for a nominal fee.

Qualified requestors may obtain books, dissertations, audiovisual materials, and photocopies of journal articles not available in the Smith Library. Materials may be requested from another Rutgers University campus library or from libraries throughout the United States.

Some requests may not be able to be filled. For example, copies of dissertations or audiovisuals may not be lent by their holding libraries. Most libraries will not lend items from their reference or reserve collections or complete volumes/issues of journals.

Interlibrary Loan and Article Delivery Services allows you to request materials and articles not owned by the Rutgers University Libraries and articles from the Rutgers University Libraries Collections.

Request an Article
Interlibrary Loan and Article Delivery Services allows you to request materials and articles not owned by the Rutgers University Libraries and articles from the Rutgers University Libraries Collections.
EZ Borrow
Not at Rutgers? Try E-ZBorrow for fast delivery from a Pennsylvania or nearby academic library. Read more about E-ZBorrow.
About UBorrow
UBorrow is a service of the Big Ten Academic Alliance, which is comprised of the universities of the Big Ten Conference plus the University of Chicago. Rutgers students, faculty, and staff can search the combined collections of 14 research libraries and place UBorrow requests for fast delivery of books that are not owned or are unavailable at Rutgers. The following libraries participate in UBorrow: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Indiana University, University of Iowa, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska, Northwestern University, Ohio State University, Penn State University, Purdue University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the Center for Research Libraries.