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Systematic Reviews: Guidelines and Best Practices

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Jenessa McElfresh
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Contact:
Jenessa McElfresh, MLIS, AHIP
Systematic Review Service Coordinator
Senior Research & Learning Services Librarian
Associate Professor

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Health Sciences Library
877 Madison Avenue, 2nd Floor
Memphis, TN 38163
901.448.1725

Guidelines & Best Practices

Much like in other disciplines and research methods, systematic review methodology is guided by established guidelines and best practices that are endorsed by key organizations. Understanding and applying these guidelines to your systematic review is essential to the completion of a quality evidence synthesis product.


Please review all guidelines before starting your evidence synthesis project.  

Guidelines for Evidence Synthesis

Cochrane Handbook

  • The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions is a manual intended for use by authors of Cochrane Reviews. It provides detailed information on core methods including the steps needed to prepare for, undertake, and report on a systematic review.
  • The current version of the Handbook is version 6.3, updated in print in 2019 and regularly online thereafter.

Access this resource at: https://training.cochrane.org/handbook/current

JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis

  • The JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis is designed to provide authors with a comprehensive guide to conducting JBI systematic reviews. It describes in detail the process of planning, undertaking and writing up a systematic review using JBI methods.
  • The JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis should be used in conjunction with the support and tutorials offered at the JBI SUMARI Knowledge Base.

Access this resource at: https://synthesismanual.jbi.global

Finding What Works in Health Care

  • The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (formerly IOM) published the Finding What Works in Healthcare guide in 2011.
  • These standards address the complete systematic review process with 21 standards for developing high-quality systematic reviews of comparative effectiveness research. 

Access this resource at: https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/13059/finding-what-works-in-health-care-standards-for-systematic-reviews

AHRQ Research Methods & Tools

  • The Evidence Based Practice Centers from the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ) offers significant guidance on evidence synthesis undertakings, including systematic reviews. 

Access these resources at: https://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/research-methods

CMSS Principles for Clinical Guideline Development

  • The Council of Medical Specialist Society's Clinical Practice Guidelines Professional Peer Group (PPG) created a set of principles as a resource for members to utilize for the development of systematic review and clinical practice guidelines. The document provides definitions of commonly used terms and recommended processes for establishing guideline panels, documenting methodology, conducting evidence assessment, and implementing guidelines.  

  • This resource assists specialty societies in providing rigorous, evidence-based guidance for their members to use in diagnosing, treating, and managing a variety of conditions and diseases. 

Access this resource at: https://cmss.org/standards/principles-for-clinical-guideline-development/

AAFP Clinical Practice Manual

  • The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) offers significant clinical recommendations for conducting evidence-based research, including evidence synthesis projects designed for inform clinical practice guidelines.
  • The Guideline Manual is mapped to both IOM Standards and CMSS Principles. 

Access this resource at: https://www.aafp.org/family-physician/patient-care/clinical-recommendations/cpg-manual.html

Reporting Recommendations and Best Practices

Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020

  • The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) reporting guidelines are designed to improve the reporting of systematic reviews. PRISMA assists authors to completely report why their systematic review was done, what methods they used, and what they found.
  • The main PRISMA reporting guideline (the PRISMA 2020 statement) primarily provides guidance for the reporting of systematic reviews evaluating the effects of interventions. PRISMA 2020 is complemented by various PRISMA extensions, which provide guidance for the reporting of different types or aspects of systematic reviews and other types of evidence synthesis (e.g. scoping reviews).

Campbell Collaboration Standards

  • The Campbell Standards are based on the MECCIR and the PRISMA-2020 reporting standards and include seven main sections with 35 items. All the items provided in the checklist are to be interpreted by authors as mandatory for a protocol, review, or update to be published in the Campbell Systematic Reviews journal.
  • It is important to note that guidance related to analyzed data might not be relevant for protocols or reviews without meta-analysis or reviews with qualitative syntheses. 

Acknowledgement: This guide design was adapted from UK Medical Center Library LibGuide CSS Template and Documentation © 2024 by Lauren E. Robinson is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/X5YFA