Cochrane Collaboration

The Cochrane Collaboration Handbook of Systematic Reviews and Interventions states, “Publication of a protocol for a review prior to knowledge of the available studies reduces the impact of review authors’ biases, promotes transparency of methods and processes.”

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Screening

• Title and abstract, full-text screening and critical appraisal screening
• Duplicate screening at all levels
• Screening questions tailored to reflect your research question
• Iterative process

The Grading of Recommendations, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) assesses the certainty of the evidence and is a key component in the development of recommendations and guidelines. Learn more by visiting the GRADE working group website.

Librarian

Using the review questions, key concepts and inclusion/exclusion criteria, a librarian builds a complex and comprehensive literature search. Working with a librarian specifically trained in systematic review searches ensures the right body of evidence is available for screening. Learn more by visiting the Health Sciences Library website.

Collected & Verified

Data are collected and verified by two researchers for all included studies. Study methodology and characteristics. Data are reported for outcomes of interest and the subgroup data.

The body of evidence informs the best method for synthesis which can include meta-analysis or narrative/thematic summary.

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