BeckerGuides: Systematic Review Guide: Guidelines

Guidelines

Becker librarians adhere to guidelines and recommended best practices when creating systematic review literature searches. We also recommend that researchers become familiar with these guidelines--especially PRISMA guidelines--when conceptualizing the systematic review project.

PRISMA

PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) is an evidence-based minimum set of items for reporting in systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Many journals endorse PRISMA and may require authors to use PRISMA when submitting systematic reviews for publication.

PRISMA Checklist
A 27 item checklist researchers should use when reporting their systematic review. Note that item 8 specifies the importance of including a replicable search strategy--something that Becker librarians provide with all systematic reviews. An updated version of the PRISMA checklist was released in 2020.
PRISMA Flow Diagram
The flow diagram depicts the flow of information through the different phases of a systematic review. It maps out the number of records identified, included and excluded, and the reasons for exclusions. Becker librarians provide information that is necessary for beginning the PRISMA flow diagram. A new PRISMA diagram for updated systematic reviews was published in 2020.
PRISMA extensions
PRISMA has also developed reporting recommendations for other types of studies including protocols and diagnostic test accuracy.
PRISMA-S (Searching) Extension
A PRISMA extension that provides a checklist for reporting the systematic review search strategy.

Cochrane Handbook

The Cochrane Group are pioneers in creating systematic reviews and are often viewed as producing "gold standard" reviews. Cochrane has specific protocols for researchers working on Cochrane group systematic reviews. We use many of these protocols for our reviews because they are well-respected in the field. If you are new to systematic reviews you might find it useful to peruse the handbook below to get a better sense of all the components of a well-designed systematic review.

Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions

IOM/National Academies

The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (formerly the Institutes of Medicine) has a very detailed list of standards for systematic reviews. The standards cover each part of the process from initiating a systematic review through finding studies, synthesizing data, and reporting findings.

National Academies Standards for Systematic Reviews

PRESS

PRESS (Peer Review of Electronic Search Strategies) is used by librarian to review systematic review searches. We use PRESS to self-assess our strategies and for peer review purposes. You can read about PRESS in the attached article below.

PRESS Guideline Explanation and Elaboration