What is a systematic review?
What makes something a systematic review instead of just a regular review article? What makes something a meta-analysis?
Answer
Most review articles you find will be regular literature review articles where the author(s) want to summarize what is known about a topic.
A systematic review is a much more detailed investigation into a focused clinical question. A systematic review can take years to complete.
A meta-anlysis is a type of systematic review where the studies chosen are similar enough that their data can be pooled for statistical analysis.
Want to know more about the differences between then? Check Bank Street Library's Systematic Reviews & Literature Reviews page and University of Tennessee Chattanooga's Guide to Evidence Synthesis .
The Literature Reviews & Search Strategies guide has a more advanced comparison of types of reviews.
Links & Files
- PRISMA Flow Diagram (how to track and report what studies you found and evaluated in your systematic review) Opens in new window
- PRISMA Checklist [Word document] (Everything you should include in your article when you write a systematic review.) Opens in new window
- Standards for Systematic Reviews Opens in new window
- What Review Is Right for You? Opens in new window