Systematic Reviews

On this page you will find:

• An overview of the Systematic Review Protocol requirements 
• An explanation of PRISMA-P and PRISMA 2020
• Information on registering and publishing Systematic Review protocols

What does a Systematic Review involve?

A Systematic Review is a methodological process, which involves the following:

• Defining a research question
• Developing a review protocol
• Designing and planning the search strategy
• Performing and documenting searches
• Screening search results
• Data extraction and appraisal
• Data analysis and interpretation
• Reporting the findings

The full standards for a Systematic Review protocol are outlined in PRISMA-P, detailed below

PRISMA

Registering and/or Publishing your Systematic Review Protocol

Protocol registration is significantly associated with a higher impact factor of the journal publishing the Systematic Review. 

Source: van der Braak, K., Ghannad, M., Orelio, C., Heus, P., Damen, J. A. A., Spijker, R., Robinson, K., Lund, H., & Hooft, L. (2022). The score after 10 years of registration of systematic review protocols. Systematic Reviews, 11(1), 191. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-022-02053-9 

A few registries of Systematic Review protocols include: