Evidence Synthesis
- What type of review is right for you? PDFA PDF of the flowchart and explanation guide for the slides on the side. Also includes links.
- A typology of reviews: an analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologiesGrant, M. J., & Booth, A. (2009). A typology of reviews: an analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 26(2), 91–108.
- What type of review is right for you? Cornell University LibraryImages based on chart created by Cornell University Library.
Updated 2019 - The Mass Production of Redundant, Misleading, and Conflicted Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses-There is massive production of unnecessary, misleading, and conflicted systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
-Suboptimal systematic reviews and meta-analyses can be harmful given the major prestige and influence these types of studies have acquired.
-The publication of systematic reviews and meta-analyses should be realigned to remove biases and vested interests and to integrate them better with the primary production of evidence. - Literature Reviews 101Workshop video from Brittany O'Neil's Literature Review's 101 part of the LSU Libraries Graduate Student Workshop Series.
Systematized Reviews
Systematic Reviews need to have more than one author in order to be considered "systematic". A team can help cut down on bias, make judgment calls on allowing articles, and many journals will reject a study if it is labeled systematic review but only has one author.
Systematized Review is what most people in graduate schools are actually looking to do.
"Systematized reviews attempt to include one or more elements of the systematic review process while stopping short of claiming that the resultant output is a systematic review. They may identify themselves parenthetically as a systematic’ review. Systematized reviews are
typically conducted as a postgraduate student assignment, in recognition that they are not able to draw upon the resources required for a full systematic review (such as two reviewers).
Perceived strengths. Typically, the search stage possesses the most easily identified elements of systematicity and an author may conduct a comprehensive search but do little more than simply catalogue included studies. Conversely, the author might only search one or more databases and then code and analyse all retrieved results in a
systematic manner. The resulting output ‘models’ the systematic review process and allows the author to demonstrate an awareness of the entire process and technical proficiency in the component steps, However, such a review necessarily falls short of being able to claim the comprehensiveness so fundamental to the systematic review method. Such reviews may form the basis for a more extensive piece of work either as a dissertation or a fully funded research project.
Perceived weaknesses.
For such reviews quality assessment and synthesis may be less identifiable. This means that these processes are not described, that they are modelled using a small set of eligible articles or that they are missing entirely. While the attempt at systematicity is to be welcomed, such reviews do possess a greater likelihood of bias than those that adhere more strictly to guidelines on the conduct of systematic reviews (see above). Completion of the academic requirements for the review is prioritized over methodological considerations."
What is a Meta-Analysis?
Meta-Analysis: a quantitative statistical analysis of several separate but similar experiments or studies in order to test the pooled data for statistical significance [often found within systematic reviews, but not the same]. – Definition from www.merriam-Webster.com
All meta-analyses should be part of a systematic review, but not all systematic reviews will include a meta-analysis.
Systematic reviews are usually researched and written as a group to remove any questions, biases, or doubts about a specific item. A systematic review really should NOT be attempted by 1 person alone, there could be too many validity/reliability questions raised by reviewers.
FlowChart
Systematic Review v. Traditional Literature Review
Examples of Different Review Types
Narrative Literature Review
- New Graduate Nurses’ Readiness to Practise: A Narrative Literature ReviewMohamad AlMekkawi, & Rouwida El Khalil. (2020). New Graduate Nurses’ Readiness to Practise: A Narrative Literature Review. Health Professions Education, 6(3), 304–316.
- A systematized literature review on the associations between neighbourhood built characteristics and walking among Canadian adultsBrenlea Farkas, Daniel J. Wagner, Alberto Nettel-Aguirre, Christine Friedenreich, & Gavin R. McCormack. (2019). A systematized literature review on the associations between neighbourhood built characteristics and walking among Canadian adults. Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada, 39(1), 1–14.
- Framing gay men's sexual relationships: A rapid review of the literature from 2011–2018.Lemay, K. R., McKie, R. M., Braham, J., Levere, D. D., Furman, E., Sasso, T., Coleman, T., & Travers, R. (2020). Framing gay men’s sexual relationships: A rapid review of the literature from 2011–2018. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 29(1), 127–137.
- Personalization in Real-Time Physical Activity Coaching Using Mobile Applications: A Scoping ReviewMonteiro-Guerra, F., Rivera-Romero, O., Fernandez-Luque, L., & Caulfield, B. (2020). Personalization in Real-Time Physical Activity Coaching Using Mobile Applications: A Scoping Review. IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, Biomedical and Health Informatics, IEEE Journal of, IEEE J. Biomed. Health Inform, 24(6), 1738–1751.
- Coffee drinking and cancer risk: an umbrella review of meta-analyses of observational studiesLong-Gang Zhao, Zhuo-Ying Li, Guo-Shan Feng, Xiao-Wei Ji, Yu-Ting Tan, Hong-Lan Li, Marc J. Gunter, & Yong-Bing Xiang. (2020). Coffee drinking and cancer risk: an umbrella review of meta-analyses of observational studies. BMC Cancer, 20(1), 1–12.
- Breastfeeding in the Community-How Can Partners/Fathers Help? A Systematic ReviewOgbo, F. A., Akombi, B. J., Ahmed, K. Y., Rwabilimbo, A. G., Ogbo, A. O., Uwaibi, N. E., Ezeh, O. K., Agho, K. E., & On Behalf Of The Global Maternal And Child Health Research Collaboration GloMACH. (2020). Breastfeeding in the Community-How Can Partners/Fathers Help? A Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(2).
- The effect of yoga on sleep quality and insomnia in women with sleep problems: a systematic review and meta-analysisWang, W.-L., Chen, K.-H., Pan, Y.-C., Yang, S.-N., & Chan, Y.-Y. (2020). The effect of yoga on sleep quality and insomnia in women with sleep problems: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Psychiatry, 20(1), 1–19.