![]() ![]() In addition, the research team formally assesses the quality of each study, including the potential for bias, and these assessments are considered when the results are synthesized. In systematic reviews, specific details are extracted from every study included, such as numbers of participants, methods, analysis techniques, and key outcomes.Īn annotated bibliography might suffice for a literature review. Screening for a literature review is typically less intensive. Team members screen the search results and sort them according to these criteria, beginning with titles and abstract reviews and moving to full-text reviews later. Most systematic searches specify several, if not many, criteria regarding which studies to include or exclude. One inclusion criteria might be that assignment to study arms had to be random an exclusion criteria might be all studies without a control arm that used a placebo. Importantly, both inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria must be clearly outlined when a systematic review is undertaken. ![]() It’s a good idea to do the same for a literature review, even if not a strict requirement. These preregistration plans include a specific search strategy using specific search terms for individual scholarly databases so other researchers can recreate the search. This registration informs other researchers that a group is working on a certain area of study, which can discourage duplicate research efforts that may, therefore, fail to be published. Preregistration gives other researchers confidence that the team is not selectively choosing advantageous results at the end to make an interesting paper. ![]() Most systematic reviews preregister the research plan, meaning that the authors submit their planned methods to a registry like PROSPERO prior to conducting the study. Literature reviews don’t have to follow such rigid methods or make the methods explicit. Like any other aspect of research, however, systematic reviews must define and follow a method that can be replicated. Literature reviews can usually be conducted by a single person rather than a team They are not expected to be exhaustive.įor this reason, most systematic reviews are conducted by teams, given the large scope of the data initially collected for most research topics. ![]() Literature reviews, on the other hand, do not follow such rigid or explicit methods. The goal of a systematic review is to be comprehensive and to include every relevant article. Table 3.1: Comparing systematic reviews and literature reviews. Let’s consider systematic and literature reviews side-by-side to understand how systematic reviews are unique. It is likely you’ve written literature reviews for class or maybe your own academic manuscripts, so some aspects of systematic reviews will be familiar. Some systematic reviews include a meta-analysis, which is quantitative technique for combining the results of multiple studies to estimate a pooled effect size that takes variations in study size and quality into consideration. Scholars who conduct systematic reviews register their research protocols in advance to clearly state the literature search strategy, rules for including and excluding studies, and a plan for the analysis. If you are interested in the impact (efficacy) of interventions-and I use the term broadly to mean clinical treatments, prevention interventions, social programs, and policies-then there might be a fast track to your learning called a systematic review.įigure 3.1: Literature reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analysesĪ systematic review is a type of literature review in which the goal is to summarize all of the relevant evidence about the impact of an intervention on some outcome. ![]()
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