According to the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions, a systematic review aims to identify and synthesize all empirical evidence that meets pre-defined criteria to answer a specific research question. Key features include:
Clearly stated objectives and eligibility criteria
Explicit, reproducible methodology
Comprehensive search of multiple sources
Assessment of the validity (risk of bias) of included studies
Systematic synthesis and presentation of findings
Source: Higgins JPT, Thomas J, Chandler J, Cumpston M, Li T, Page MJ, Welch VA (editors). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions version 6.5 (updated August 2024). Cochrane, 2024. Available from www.training.cochrane.org/handbook.
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Organization |
Funder/Sponsor |
Research Areas |
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International Research Network |
Criminal justice, Education, International development, social welfare, social sciences, infrastructure, urban planning, and environmental engineering |
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Non-profit registered in England/many intl. centers |
Effectiveness reviews; Medicine |
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International non-profit |
Evidence synthesis on environmental policy and practice, and topics on environmental engineering |
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JBI Global (formerly Joanna Briggs Institute) |
International non-profit, based in University of Adelaide, South Australia |
Effectiveness of social and economic interventions in LMICs |
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International network of business leaders and academic experts |
SRs on environmental policy, global supply chains, innovation, & long-term thinking |
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National Institutes of Health |
Efficacy and safety of dietary supplements |
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Initiative of the US Dept of Education’s National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance |
Effectiveness reviews as well as primary effectiveness studies; Education |
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Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI), the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI), & Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) |
Provides guidance on the reporting of systematic reviews and other evidence synthesis |
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Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) |
2020 update - supported by the EQUATOR Network and the UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) |
Provides guidance on the reporting for scoping reviews |
Use the resources below to check if a review is already published or underway. If one exists, assess its quality and currency—does it need updating, or is there a gap warranting a new review?
Key Resources to Search:
PROSPERO
International database of registered health and social care systematic reviews.
Open Science Framework (OSF)
Free platform to preregister, organize, and share all parts of a systematic or scoping review.
Campbell Collaboration
Reviews of social interventions in education, crime, justice, and welfare.
EPPI-Centre
Systematic reviews in social science and public policy.
DoPHER
Database of health promotion and public health effectiveness reviews.
SRDR
AHRQ’s searchable archive of systematic reviews and their data.
What Works Clearinghouse
Reviews evidence on education programs, products, practices, and policies.
The design of this page was adapted in part from Research: By Course, Subject, or Topic, by University of Arizona Libraries, © 2020 The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of The University of Arizona, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
