Systematic Reviews

What is a Systematic Review?

According to the Cochrane Handbook of Systematic Reviews of Interventions:

"Systematic reviews seek to collate evidence that fits pre-specified eligibility criteria in order to answer a specific research question. They aim to minimize bias by using explicit, systematic methods documented in advance with a protocol."

The PRISMA 2020 Statement articulates the importance of systematic reviews and their documentation as serving "many critical roles," such as:

• Providing syntheses of the state of knowledge in a field, from which future research priorities can be identified
• Addressing questions that otherwise could not be answered by individual studies
• Identifying problems in primary research that should be rectified in future studies
• Generating or evaluating theories about how or why phenomena occur

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