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Systematic Reviews in the Health Sciences

This guide will introduce you to the Systematic Review process.

Screening References

  • Use tools like Covidence or JBI SUMARI or Rayyan to manage the screening process. For information on how to use Covidence, please visit the Covidence research guide at https://libguides.rutgers.edu/covidence.
  • Use inclusion and exclusion criteria to screen studies.
  • Conduct the screening process in two stages:
    • Title/abstract screening
    • Full-text screening
  • Screening should be performed by at least two reviewers independently to achieve objectivity. Any discrepancies should be resolved by a 3rd reviewer or a discussion among the two reviewers to reach an agreement.
  • The included references from the title and abstract screening will be moved forward to full text screening. PDFs need to be retrieved for each included reference for review. Any studies that are excluded after full text evaluation need to be noted with a rational for exclusion. All this should be recorded in the flowchart of study selection.