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Research Process: Systematic Review

This guide gives a full overview of all the aspects of the research process and where to get assistance.

Prisma: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses

See more at PRISMA: prisma-statement.org

Frameworks to develop your research question

The PICOT Framework is most commonly used and dependent on your discipline and type of review  you are undertaking, you may use only the PICO part or even just the PIC:

P

I

C

O

T

Patient / Population

Intervention / Indicator

Compare / Control

Outcome

Time / Type of Study or Question

Who are the relevant patients? Think about age, sex, geographic location, or specific characteristics that would be important to your question.

What is the management strategy, diagnostic test, or exposure that you are interested in?

Is there a control or alternative management strategy you would like to compare to the intervention or indicator?

What are the patient-relevant consequences of the intervention?

What time periods should be considered?  What study types are most likely to have the information you seek?  What clinical domain does your question fall under?

SPIDER is a framework that is more applicable for qualitative and quantitative studies

S

PI

D

E

R

Sample

Phenomenon of Interest

Design

Evaluation

Research type

Sample size may vary in quantitative and qualitative studies

Phenomena of Interest include behaviours, experiences and interventions

Design influences the strength of the study analysis and findings

Evaluation outcomes may include more subjective outcomes such as views, attitudes, etc.

Research types include qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-method studies

SPICE is a framework that can be used for social sciences studies

S

P

I

C

E

Setting

Perspective

Intervention

Comparison

Evaluation

Setting is the context for the question - where

Perspective is the users, potential users or stakeholders of the service - for whom

Intervention is the action taken for the users, potential users or stakeholders - what

Comparison is the alternative actions or outcomes - what else

Evaluation is the result or measurement that will determine the success of the intervention - what result or how well

Documents for workshop

More Resources

Why Systematic Reviews Matter - Elsevier

Easy guide to conducting a systematic review - Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health

What is a systematic review? - Bandolier

PRISMA - PRISMA is an evidence-based minimum set of items for reporting in systematic reviews and meta-analyses. PRISMA focuses on the reporting of reviews evaluating randomized trials, but can also be used as a basis for reporting systematic reviews of other types of research, particularly evaluations of interventions. See the PRISMA protocol for more on constructing a protocol. 

Doing a Systematic Review - SAGE

Cochrane Interactive Learning 

Relevant Databases to Search

Interlibrary Loans

Interlibrary Loans
Request any material not in our collection using the link above. Articles will be sourced both nationally and internationally at no cost to the user. Books will be sourced nationally without any charges, however, there is a charge involved if the book has to be sourced internationally.

Useful books in the library

Introduction to Systematic Reviews

"Systematic review describes a specific methodology for conducting reviews of literature. This methodology prescribes explicit, reproducible, and transparent processes for collating the best available evidence in answer to specific questions. In particular, it requires the use of robust techniques for searching for and identifying primary studies, appraising the quality of these studies, selecting the studies to be included in the review, extracting the data from the studies, and synthesizing the findings narratively and/or through pooling suitable quantitative data in META-ANALYSIS" (Lewis-Beck, Bryman & Liao, 2004). READ MORE

From:
The SAGE Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods

Information Management

Rayyan 

Helping systematic review authors quickly, easily and enjoyably create reviews, collaborate, maintain over time and get suggestions for article inclusion. 

RevMan (Review Manager):

Available in a convenient web based application, as well as Desktop version, RevMan has been designed to integrate with other systematic review software, and can be used to manage the various steps in the Systematic Review Process.

R statistical software:

R

R provides a wide variety of statistical (linear and nonlinear modelling, classical statistical tests, time-series analysis, classification, clustering, …) and graphical techniques, and is highly extensible. The S language is often the vehicle of choice for research in statistical methodology, and R provides an Open Source route to participation in that activity.

EndNote Referencing Software:

Events Calendar | EndNote Q&A | Griffith University

EndNote is a reference management software application. Other examples include Zotero and Mendeley. You can use EndNote to create your own library of references and manage them, insert citations or footnotes and generate bibliographies and collaborate with others.

Slides