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Systematic Reviews

Develop a Protocol

Step 2 of the systematic review process is to develop a protocol. A systematic review protocol is a detailed plan of your systematic review. It outlines

  • the criteria for inclusion and exclusion of literature
  • how and where you will search for literature
    • if you will search grey literature
  • the tools you will use for quality assessment
  • how you will extract date from your included articles

The systematic review protocol is an important step of a systematic review and many journals will look for it when you submit your review for publication.

Protocols and PRISMA

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) has an extension for protocols. It includes a checklist of items needed in a systematic review protocol. Please refer to the link below for the checklist, statement paper, and explanation and elaboration paper.

Why is a protocol important?

The protocol is a detailed work plan that describes how and why you are doing a systematic review, it aids in navigating the systematic review process for the entire team. The team is able to refer back to the protocol to ensure they are on the right track. It also shows readers how your completed systematic review may be different from the original plan, which can help them understand whether there is bias in the review results and conclusions. Overall, having a systematic review protocol makes the review process more transparent.

How a Librarian can help at the protocol stage

In step 2, a librarian can help you:

  • Develop and refine your protocol based on PRISMA-P reporting guidelines
  • Advise on the literature searching methods documentation
  • Determine if/where to publish or share your completed protocol

Registering and Publishing your Protocol

While it is not a requirement at Lister Hill Library to register your protocol many journals do and we highly encourage it. Publishing the protocol is different from registering it. Registering your protocol will make your protocol visible to others on websites such as PROSPERO and Open Science Framework (OSF). 

Registering your protocol is highly encouraged and many journals now require a protocol to be registered at the beginning of a review. Registering makes the protocol visible to others and allows people to see whether similar reviews exist. If the protocol is registered it helps avoid duplication and reduces opportunities for reporting bias by enabling comparison of the completed review with what was planned . While there are many registers and website to register your protocol, the library recommends the two below:

Many journals publish systematic review protocols. If you plan to publish your protocol in a journal, make sure to check the protocol requirements on the journal website before submitting. A protocol submitted for publication will be subject to the peer-review process, this improves transparency in the systematic review process. Publishing protocols is increasingly considered a best practice. Below are a few examples of places to publish a protocol:

Helpful Resources for Protocol Development