FIU Libraries: How to Find and Conduct Systematic Reviews: Home

Before You Begin...

Checkpoint
Definitions

Database Basics

Systematic reviews require expert database searching. See the following resource if you would like a refresher on using databases:

Tips and Tricks for Health Sciences Databases
FIU LibGuide with information on creating search phrases using quotation marks, asterisks, and more.

Do you really want to do a systematic review?

I Want To Do a Systematic Review
Explanation of what a systematic review is and how it differs from a literature review. From the Mayo Clinic Libraries.

A systematic review is a document that provides a comprehensive review of all relevant studies on a particular, clearly formulated question, usually on a health-related topic. The systematic review is created after identifying, selecting, and critically appraising relevant research on the topic, then combining the research and summarizing the findings.

(Definition from the Cochrane Collaboration and The Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library.)

Study Design 101: Systematic Review
This excellent guide by the the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library provides an introduction to study designs with definitions, examples, and self-tests.

Ramces Marsilli
Health Sciences Librarian

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Reuse Information

Barbara M. Sorondo, FIU Libraries

This LibGuide is provided with an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Creative Commons license. If you would like to reuse any part of this LibGuide for noncommercial educational or instructional purposes, please contact and credit the guide's creator, Barbara M. Sorondo, Health Sciences Librarian at the FIU Libraries, and include a link to this guide.

WELCOME TO THE FIU SYSTEMATIC REVIEW LIBGUIDE

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As the pace of research continues to increase ever more rapidly, systematic reviews have emerged as an increasingly popular way of answering research questions by critically and methodically examining existing research. Use this guide to find existing systematic reviews or follow the steps to create your own.

This guide is intended for students in the health sciences, especially students who are conducting a systematic review (or similar assignment) for the first time. As a result, the guide is meant to be easy-to-follow but not necessarily comprehensive.

Although the resources included in this guide may help faculty and researchers, as well as students of other disciplines, please note that expectations for systematic reviews intended for publication and/or other disciplines may differ. See the Other Systematic Review Resources page of this LibGuide for additional resources, including books, articles, and publication guidelines.

If you would like to learn about systematic reviews in-depth, take this free online course offered by Johns Hopkins University:

Introduction to Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Introduces methods to perform systematic reviews and meta-analysis of clinical trials. Covers how to formulate an answerable research question, define inclusion and exclusion criteria, search for the evidence, extract data, assess the risk of bias in clinical trials, and perform a meta-analysis.

Useful Tools

Abstrackr
Free, open-source tool for facilitating the citation screening process when conducting systematic reviews. Requires registration.
Covidence
Tool designed to help expedite the screening process of systematic reviews. Requires registration. Free for FIU affiliates. Limited trial available for non-FIU affiliates.
DistillerSR
Tool to help manage, track, and streamline the screening, data extraction, and reporting processes of systematic reviews. Limited free and discounted versions are available for students and faculty.
Rayyan
Free tool to help authors create systematic reviews, collaborate on them, maintain them over time, and get suggestions for article inclusion.
RevMan 5
Review Manager (RevMan) is downloadable software used for preparing and maintaining Cochrane Reviews, available free of charge for purely academic use.

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