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Systematic Reviews: Health Sciences

A guide for those who want to do a Systematic Review search strategy mainly in the health sciences field.

At The Very Beginning

First of all, check if a previous SR already exists or is in-progress using the below resources:

If one already exists, check if it is too old or of poor quality or of a different focus than what you plan. If SR already exists, look at recommendations for follow-up.

Now, if you decide to do a SR, consider registering the protocol in PROSPERO so it can be peer-reviewed and to reduce unnecessary duplication of effort among researchers.

If this is the first time you do a SR, familiarize yourself with:

Covidence: a subscription systematic review collaboration tool from a team of researchers in Australia. Another similar but free tool from Qatar Foundation is Rayyan.  For more information see SR Toolkit.