Welcome to the LibGuide on Reviews - Synthesis and Evaluation of Existing Evidence. This guide is designed to help researchers, students, and practitioners navigate the process of conducting reviews to synthesize and evaluate existing evidence on a particular topic or research question. Reviews play a crucial role in advancing knowledge, informing decision-making, and guiding future research directions in various fields. Whether you are embarking on a systematic review, meta-analysis, scoping review, or another type of review, this guide will provide you with essential resources, tools, and strategies to effectively plan, conduct, and report your review. From defining your research question to synthesizing findings and interpreting results, each step of the review process will be explored in detail.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this LibGuide, you will be able to:
Throughout this guide, you will find practical tips, examples, and links to resources to support you at each stage of the review process. Whether you are new to conducting reviews or looking to enhance your review skills, this LibGuide will serve as a valuable resource to help you navigate the complex landscape of evidence synthesis and evaluation.
Primary data refers to information that is collected firsthand by the researcher for a specific purpose or study. This can include data gathered through experiments, surveys, interviews, observations, or any other method where the researcher directly interacts with the subjects or sources of data.
Secondary data, on the other hand, refers to information that has already been collected by someone else for a purpose other than the current research study. This can include data from books, journals, databases, government reports, or any other sources where the data was originally collected for a different purpose.
In a systematic review, researchers aim to gather, critically evaluate, and synthesize all available evidence on a particular research question or topic. While both primary and secondary data can be valuable for systematic reviews, secondary data is often more suitable. This is because systematic reviews typically require a large amount of data from multiple studies to draw meaningful conclusions, and secondary data sources offer a wide range of studies that have already been conducted and published.
Using secondary data allows researchers to access a broader pool of information without the need to conduct new studies, which can be time-consuming and expensive. Additionally, secondary data can provide a more comprehensive view of the topic by including studies conducted in different contexts, populations, and time periods.
However, it's essential for researchers conducting systematic reviews to carefully evaluate the quality and relevance of the secondary data they include to ensure the reliability of their findings. They need to assess factors such as the methodological rigor of the original studies, the consistency of findings across studies, and the potential for bias in the data.
Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions:
https://training.cochrane.org/handbook
PRISMA Flow Diagram:
Cochrane Collaboration:
PRISMA checklist
PRISMA 2020 Checklist (Word)
The checklist can also be completed using a Shiny App available at
https://prisma.shinyapps.io/checklist/
An expanded checklist, with references and some examples removed, is also available.
PRISMA 2020 Expanded Checklist (PDF)
Video for authors using RevMan
Watch a 6-minute YouTube tutorial
Example of forest plot using RevMan for authors
How to cite PRISMA
This LibGuide provides a starting point for your systematic review journey.
Remember, thorough planning, attention to detail, and adherence to established guidelines are key to conducting a successful and impactful review.
The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) is a checklist and flow diagram that helps ensure transparent and complete reporting of your systematic review. It ensures you report every step of the process, from search strategy to conclusions.
How-to Guide for PRISMA: