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Systematic Reviews in the Health Sciences

This guide will introduce you to the Systematic Review process.

Steps in the Conduct of a Systematic Review

A systematic review is a rigorous and transparent process designed to answer a specific research question. It makes the findings of relevant studies more accessible to decision-makers.

Conducting a systematic review involves several steps, which include the following:

  1. Formulate a research question. 
  2. Establish a team for the review. 
  3. Create a protocol to define the process for selecting studies and reduce bias. 
  4. Search relevant sources to identify evidence. 
  5. Select studies based on the pre-defined eligibility criteria. 
  6. Extract data from the included studies. 
  7. Assess risk of Bias.
  8. Synthesize the data to evaluate the findings from the individual studies. 
  9. Interpret the results and report the findings.

Systematic reviews may require updates to remain relevant as new evidence emerges.

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