Skip to Main Content
Douglas College Library About Us Articles & Databases Research Guides Services Faculty News Events Learning Centre

Guide to Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses

Health Sciences

(U.S.) Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality:

Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, University of York: Systematic Reviews [eBook]

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews: Provides the full text of systematic reviews that focus on the effects of healthcare. Available through the library's Evidence-Based Medicine Reviews database.
 

Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions: Chapter 10: Analysing data and undertaking meta-analyses.

 

Cooper, C., Booth, A., Varley-Campell, N.B. & Garside, R. Defining the process to literature searching in systematic reviews: A literature review of guidance and supporting studies. BMC Medical Research Methodology. 18,85 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-018-0545-3

 

EQUATOR Network: General resource for conducting / publishing health research.
 

Hansen, C., Steinmetz, H. & Block, J. How to conduct a meta-analysis in eight steps: a practical guide. Manag Rev Q 72, 1–19 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11301-021-00247-4
 

JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis: This manual is meant to provide guidance for JBI authors, but contains extensive information about how to conduct a quality systematic review that is widely applicable outside of JBI contexts.

 

Page MJ, McKenzie JE, Bossuyt PM, Boutron I, Hoffmann TC, Mulrow CD, et al. The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ 2021;372:n71. doi: 10.1136/bmj.n71
 

PRISMA 2020: Checklist for systematic reviews: a 27-item checklist addressing the introduction, methods, results and discussion sections of a systematic review report.

 

The University of York.   Guide to Systematic Reviews in Health Care 

 

Reporting Guidelines:

 

Booth, A. "Brimful of STARLITE": toward standards for reporting literature searches. J Med Libr Assoc 4, 4 (2006).  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1629442/

 

EQUATOR Network Reporting Guidelines Database: Contains links to the full-text of over 500 reporting guidelines for a wide array of study types, including systematic reviews, meta-analyses and scoping reviews.
 

MOOSE (Meta-analysis of observational studies in epidemiology)

  • Stroup DF, Berlin JA, Morton SC, et al. Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology: A Proposal for ReportingJAMA. 283, 15 (2000). doi:10.1001/jama.283.15.2008
     

PRISMA: Transparent Reporting of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
 

Social Sciences

The Campbell Collaboration [website]: is "an international social science research network that produces high quality, open and policy-relevant evidence syntheses, plain language summaries and policy briefs."
 

  • Includes the Campbell Evidence and Gaps Maps (EGMs) which aim to show "the availability (or lack thereof) of rigorous evidence for a particular policy domain."
     
  • Methods of Synthesis and Integration Center (MOSAIC): "MOSAIC is an initiative at the American Institutes of Research on evidence synthesis led by several Campbell Methods Editors," that provides additional guides, tools and resources for those conducting systematic reviews in the social sciences.
     

EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, University College London: