Systematic Reviews: Methodology and Documentation

The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions is the official document that describes in detail the process of preparing and maintaining Cochrane systematic reviews on the effects of healthcare interventions.

These IOM standards are for systematic reviews of comparative effectiveness research of therapeutic medical or surgical interventions.

Produced by an international taskforce and supplement to the Cochrane Reviewer's Handbook, the Guidelines highlight issues of relevance to doing reviews of effects of health promotion and public health interventions. They should not be used as a single resource for completing systematic reviews; they were produced to 'fill the gaps' for public health reviewers in the Cochrane Reviewer's Handbook. Some of the information has now been included as a special chapter in the Handbook.

The Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre (EPPI-Centre) conducts systematic reviews in the fields of Education, Health Promotion and Public Health, as well as social welfare and international development.

The Campbell Collaboration is an international research network that produces systematic reviews of the effects of social interventions in Crime & Justice, Education, International Development, and Social Welfare. Their website provide guidance and resources for conducting systematic reviews in these areas.

Lucie Rychetnik and Michael Frommer of the University of Syndey. A guide to appraising evidence through the collection and evaluation of research papers and reports.

Guidance from the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD), a world renowned institute that produces policy relevant research and innovative methods that advance the use of research evidence to improve population health.

The Community Guide conducts systematic reviews of interventions in many topic areas to learn what works to promote public health.

The Collaboration for Environmental Evidence (CEE) is an open community of scientists and managers working towards a sustainable global environment and the conservation of biodiversity.

Some effort has been made to provide guidance for systematic reviews in software engineering. This site provides guidelines and other resources for this field.

The Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) Instrument evaluates the process of practice guideline development and the quality of reporting

PRISMA is an evidence-based minimum set of items for reporting in systematic reviews and meta-analyses. PRISMA focuses on the reporting of reviews evaluating randomized trials, but can also be used as a basis for reporting systematic reviews of other types of research, particularly evaluations of interventions.

Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) is an evidence-based minimum set of items for reporting in systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

An updated version of PRISMA

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of individual participant data.

The EQUATOR (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research) Network is an international initiative that seeks to improve the reliability and value of published health research literature by promoting transparent and accurate reporting and wider use of robust reporting guidelines. They provide a list of various standards for reporting in systematic reviews.

The PRISMA-Equity extension was published in 2012. It provides guidance for reporting equity-focused systematic reviews in order to help reviewers identify, extract, and synthesize evidence on equity in systematic reviews. Health inequity is defined as unfair and avoidable differences in health.