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George Mason University InfoGuides

Research Support

Library services that support faculty research such as issuing DOIs, repository and open access publishing services for sharing and archiving research, metadata, data management, ORCiD, biosketches, copyright and Creative Commons.
Systematic Reviews and Evidence Synthesis

Use the following guides for step-by-step instructions for conducting a systematic review or evidence synthesis in your discipline.

Contact the librarians listed on the above guides for help.

A systematic review is a type of literature review that attempts to collect and analyze all evidence that answers a specific question. The question must be clearly defined and have inclusion and exclusion criteria. A broad and thorough search of the literature is performed and a critical analysis of the search results is reported and ultimately provides a current evidence-based answer to the specific question (CDC).

This table from the University of Texas Libraries defines literature review types. It explains the difference between systematic reviews, evidence synthesis, literature reviews and more.