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Systematic Reviews (2+ people)

This guide will look at resources for conducting a systematic review (SR) of literature on a topic

Reporting Guidelines

Key reporting guidelines from the Equator Network (e.g., PRISMA-S; TIDieR-Placebo: a guide and checklist for reporting placebo and sham controls etc.)

On the right of this page you will see a list of reporting guidelines for the main types of studies e.g., CONSORT for randomised trials; AGREE for clinical practice guidelines and so on. If there is a relevant extension to go with that study type (PRISMA-P; SCARE / HOM-CASE etc.) there will be links to those as well.

PRISMA-S is an extension to the PRISMA flow diagram for searching. It is a checklist of 16 items, spread across four sections that the reviewer(s) should include in their systematic review write-up as part of a robust, systematic review process.

The four sections are:

  1. Information Sources and Methods
  2. Search Strategies
  3. Peer Review (of the search strategy / process)
  4. Managing Records

These are deemed to be key areas that should be reported on in a systematic review, but some parts are still left out. If you are going to conduct a systematic review then it is advisable that you look at this checklist and ensure that you include them all within the systematic review document. 

You can download it in PDF, Word, and / or Excel format from the PRISMA-S page on the PRISMA website.