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Systematic Reviews in the Health Sciences

This guide will introduce you to the Systematic Review process.

Develop a Protocol

Developing a protocol for a systematic review is critical for various reasons such as:

  • Reduce Bias: It ensures transparency and reduces the risk of bias by pre-specifying the methods and objectives before the review begins.
  • Promotes Rigor: A protocol outlines clear methodologies, helping to maintain consistency and methodological rigor throughout the review.
  • Enhances Reproducibility: Others can replicate or validate the review process based on a detailed protocol.
  • Avoids Duplication: Registering a protocol (e.g., with PROSPERO) helps identify whether a similar review is already underway, saving resources.
  • Facilitates Peer Review: A protocol can be peer-reviewed to strengthen the methodological framework before the review starts.
  • Improves Collaboration: Teams working on the review can use the protocol as a reference for shared understanding and alignment.
  • Defines Scope Clearly: It helps avoid scope creep by specifying inclusion/exclusion criteria and research questions upfront.
  • Supports Publication and Credibility: Many journals and funding agencies consider a pre-specified protocol a marker of high-quality research and may require one for publication.

When developing a protocol, it is important to determine the major elements of the research question including Population(s) or Problem(s), Intervention(s) or Exposure(s), Comparator(s), and Outcome(s) based on the PI(E)CO frameworks. The protocol should contain an introduction with a rationale for the review and the clearly stated research objectives, as well as the methodological description with a pre-defined set of inclusion and exclusion criteria, a search strategy with various forms of search terms, and the approaches to selecting studies.

Equally important is to register the protocol in a repository, e.g. PROSPERO, which is free to use as “an international database of prospectively registered systematic reviews in health and social care, welfare, public health, education, crime, justice, and international development, where there is a health-related outcome.” It is produced by the Center for Review and Dissemination (CRD) of the University of York and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), United Kingdom. Once your protocol is registered in PROSPERO, a registration number will be assigned.

Protocol Guidelines and Templates: