Systematic Reviews: Methodology & Reporting

These four major guides will help with the process of conducting a systematic review:

• The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions describes in detail the process of preparing and maintaining Cochrane reviews on the effects of healthcare interventions. The MECIR Manual: the MECIR (Methodological Expectations of Cochrane Intervention Reviews) Standards are drawn from the Cochrane Handbook and should be used to guide the conduct and reporting of Cochrane Intervention Reviews.
• PRISMA, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, is an evidence-based minimum set of items for reporting of reviews evaluating randomized trials and other types of research, particularly evaluations of interventions.
• Finding What Works in Health Care: Standards for Systematic Reviews is the Institute of Medicine's standards for conducting systematic reviews of comparative effectiveness research.
• Systematic Reviews: CRD's Guidance for Undertaking Reviews in Health Care provides guidance from the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, University of York.

The Equator Network (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparence Of health Research) contains a searchable database of reporting guidelines and also links to other resources relevant to research reporting.

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• Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewers' Manual, The Joanna Briggs Institute, University of Adelaide, Australia, 2014.

• Methods Guide for Effectiveness and Comparative Effectiveness Reviews, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD, 2014.

• Methods Guide for Medical Test Reviews, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD, 2012.

• Campbell Collaboration Systematic Reviews: Policies and Guidelines, The Campbell Collaboration, Oslo, Norway, 2015.

• EPPI-Centre Methods for Conducting Systematic Reviews, Department of Social Science, University College London, 2010.

• Petticrew M, and Roberts H. Systematic Reviews in the Social Sciences: A Practical Guide. Blackwell Publishing, 2006.

• Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Health Promotion and Public Health Interventions. Cochrane Health Promotion and Public Health Field and the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, Australia. This handbook isn't intended to be used as a single resource for conducting reviews; reviewers are recommended to source additional information from other handbooks and guidance manuals.

• Guidelines for Systematic Reviews of Health Promotion and Public Health Interventions, 2007. Produced by an international task force to supplement the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions with information specific to public health reviewers.

• MOOSE: Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology. Includes a proposed reporting checklist for authors, editors, and reviewers of meta-analyses of observational studies.

• Community Preventive Services Task Force. The Guide to Community Preventive Services: Systematic Review Methods. 

• SCIE Systematic Research Reviews: Guidelines, Social Care Institute for Excellence, 2013.

• Risk of Bias in Systematic Reviews (ROBIS). The ROBIS tool is used to assess risk of bias in systematic reviews. It can be used by researchers to conduct a review of systematic reviews, or by those who want to avoid bias in their own systematic reviews.

• AMSTAR, A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews.

SR Toolbox is a searchable catalog of software tools that can be used to support the systematic review process. The SR Toolbox also includes checklists, guidelines and reporting standards.