"Systematic reviews were developed out of a need to ensure that decisions affecting people’s lives can be informed by an up-to-date and complete understanding of the relevant research evidence. With the volume of research literature growing at an ever-increasing rate, it is impossible for individual decision makers to assess this vast quantity of primary research to enable them to make the most appropriate healthcare decisions that do more good than harm. By systematically assessing this primary research, systematic reviews aim to provide an up-to-date summary of the state of research knowledge on an intervention, diagnostic test, prognostic factor or other health or healthcare topic. Systematic reviews address the main problem with adhoc searching and selection of research, namely that of bias. Just as primary research studies use methods to avoid bias, so should summaries and syntheses of that research. It is important that review authors consider carefully what questions are important to these different stakeholders. Systematic reviews are more likely to be relevant to a broad range of end users if they are informed by the involvement of people with a range of experiences, in terms of both the topic and the methodology."
Lasserson TJ, Thomas J, Higgins JPT. Starting a review. In: Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. [Internet].; 2019 p. 1–12.
"Healthcare decisions for individual patients and for public health policies should be informed by the best available research evidence. The practice of evidence-based medicine is the integration of individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research and patient's values and expectations. Primary care physicians need evidence for both clinical practice and for public health decision making. The evidence comes from good reviews which is a state-of-the-art synthesis of current evidence on a given research question. Given the explosion of medical literature, and the fact that time is always scarce, review articles play a vital role in decision making in evidence-based medical practice."
Gopalakrishnan S, Ganeshkumar P. Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis: Understanding the Best Evidence in Primary Healthcare. J Family Med Prim Care. 2013 Jan;2(1):9-14. doi: 10.4103/2249-4863.109934. PMID: 24479036; PMCID: PMC3894019.
Welcome to the Systematic Review Infoguide
Use this guide to discover resources available to you at Mason and online.
Watch this video to familiarize yourself with the work involved: Overview of Systematic Reviews https://youtu.be/RdZl-sSgx8c
Ask a Librarian | Hours & Directions | Mason Libraries Home
Copyright © George Mason University