There are several other types of review that may use methods similar to systematic reviews:
The following resources provide information on the various types of review and how to conduct them:
This quiz can help you determine if you have the resources to undertake a systematic review, or if a different type of review might be more appropriate:
It is common to confuse systematic and literature reviews as both are used to provide a summary of the existent literature or research on a specific topic. Even with this common ground, both types vary significantly. Please review the following chart (and its corresponding poster linked below) for the detailed explanation of each as well as the differences between each type of review.
Systematic Review | Literature Review | |
---|---|---|
Definition | High-level overview of primary research on a focused question that identifies, selects, synthesizes, and appraises all high quality research evidence relevant to that question | Qualitatively summarizes evidence on a topic using informal or subjective methods to collect and interpret studies |
Goals | Answers a focused clinical question Eliminate bias | Provide summary or overview of topic |
Question | Clearly defined and answerable clinical question Recommend using PICO as a guide | Can be a general topic or a specific question |
Components | Pre-specified eligibility criteria Systematic search strategy Assessment of the validity of findings Interpretation and presentation of results Reference list | Introduction Methods Discussion Conclusion Reference list |
Number of Authors | Three or more | One or more |
Timeline | Months to years Average eighteen months | Weeks to months |
Requirement | Thorough knowledge of topic Perform searches of all relevant databases Statistical analysis resources (for meta-analysis) | Understanding of topic |
Value | Connects practicing clinicians to high quality evidence Supports evidence-based practice | Provides summary of literature on the topic |
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Methodology
Published on June 15, 2022 by Shaun Turney . Revised on November 20, 2023.
A systematic review is a type of review that uses repeatable methods to find, select, and synthesize all available evidence. It answers a clearly formulated research question and explicitly states the methods used to arrive at the answer.
They answered the question “What is the effectiveness of probiotics in reducing eczema symptoms and improving quality of life in patients with eczema?”
In this context, a probiotic is a health product that contains live microorganisms and is taken by mouth. Eczema is a common skin condition that causes red, itchy skin.
What is a systematic review, systematic review vs. meta-analysis, systematic review vs. literature review, systematic review vs. scoping review, when to conduct a systematic review, pros and cons of systematic reviews, step-by-step example of a systematic review, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about systematic reviews.
A review is an overview of the research that’s already been completed on a topic.
What makes a systematic review different from other types of reviews is that the research methods are designed to reduce bias . The methods are repeatable, and the approach is formal and systematic:
Although multiple sets of guidelines exist, the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews is among the most widely used. It provides detailed guidelines on how to complete each step of the systematic review process.
Systematic reviews are most commonly used in medical and public health research, but they can also be found in other disciplines.
Systematic reviews typically answer their research question by synthesizing all available evidence and evaluating the quality of the evidence. Synthesizing means bringing together different information to tell a single, cohesive story. The synthesis can be narrative ( qualitative ), quantitative , or both.
Systematic reviews often quantitatively synthesize the evidence using a meta-analysis . A meta-analysis is a statistical analysis, not a type of review.
A meta-analysis is a technique to synthesize results from multiple studies. It’s a statistical analysis that combines the results of two or more studies, usually to estimate an effect size .
A literature review is a type of review that uses a less systematic and formal approach than a systematic review. Typically, an expert in a topic will qualitatively summarize and evaluate previous work, without using a formal, explicit method.
Although literature reviews are often less time-consuming and can be insightful or helpful, they have a higher risk of bias and are less transparent than systematic reviews.
Similar to a systematic review, a scoping review is a type of review that tries to minimize bias by using transparent and repeatable methods.
However, a scoping review isn’t a type of systematic review. The most important difference is the goal: rather than answering a specific question, a scoping review explores a topic. The researcher tries to identify the main concepts, theories, and evidence, as well as gaps in the current research.
Sometimes scoping reviews are an exploratory preparation step for a systematic review, and sometimes they are a standalone project.
A systematic review is a good choice of review if you want to answer a question about the effectiveness of an intervention , such as a medical treatment.
To conduct a systematic review, you’ll need the following:
A systematic review has many pros .
Systematic reviews also have a few cons .
The 7 steps for conducting a systematic review are explained with an example.
Formulating the research question is probably the most important step of a systematic review. A clear research question will:
A good research question for a systematic review has four components, which you can remember with the acronym PICO :
You can rearrange these four components to write your research question:
Sometimes, you may want to include a fifth component, the type of study design . In this case, the acronym is PICOT .
Their research question was:
A protocol is a document that contains your research plan for the systematic review. This is an important step because having a plan allows you to work more efficiently and reduces bias.
Your protocol should include the following components:
If you’re a professional seeking to publish your review, it’s a good idea to bring together an advisory committee . This is a group of about six people who have experience in the topic you’re researching. They can help you make decisions about your protocol.
It’s highly recommended to register your protocol. Registering your protocol means submitting it to a database such as PROSPERO or ClinicalTrials.gov .
Searching for relevant studies is the most time-consuming step of a systematic review.
To reduce bias, it’s important to search for relevant studies very thoroughly. Your strategy will depend on your field and your research question, but sources generally fall into these four categories:
At this stage of your review, you won’t read the articles yet. Simply save any potentially relevant citations using bibliographic software, such as Scribbr’s APA or MLA Generator .
Applying the selection criteria is a three-person job. Two of you will independently read the studies and decide which to include in your review based on the selection criteria you established in your protocol . The third person’s job is to break any ties.
To increase inter-rater reliability , ensure that everyone thoroughly understands the selection criteria before you begin.
If you’re writing a systematic review as a student for an assignment, you might not have a team. In this case, you’ll have to apply the selection criteria on your own; you can mention this as a limitation in your paper’s discussion.
You should apply the selection criteria in two phases:
It’s very important to keep a meticulous record of why you included or excluded each article. When the selection process is complete, you can summarize what you did using a PRISMA flow diagram .
Next, Boyle and colleagues found the full texts for each of the remaining studies. Boyle and Tang read through the articles to decide if any more studies needed to be excluded based on the selection criteria.
When Boyle and Tang disagreed about whether a study should be excluded, they discussed it with Varigos until the three researchers came to an agreement.
Extracting the data means collecting information from the selected studies in a systematic way. There are two types of information you need to collect from each study:
You should collect this information using forms. You can find sample forms in The Registry of Methods and Tools for Evidence-Informed Decision Making and the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations Working Group .
Extracting the data is also a three-person job. Two people should do this step independently, and the third person will resolve any disagreements.
They also collected data about possible sources of bias, such as how the study participants were randomized into the control and treatment groups.
Synthesizing the data means bringing together the information you collected into a single, cohesive story. There are two main approaches to synthesizing the data:
Generally, you should use both approaches together whenever possible. If you don’t have enough data, or the data from different studies aren’t comparable, then you can take just a narrative approach. However, you should justify why a quantitative approach wasn’t possible.
Boyle and colleagues also divided the studies into subgroups, such as studies about babies, children, and adults, and analyzed the effect sizes within each group.
The purpose of writing a systematic review article is to share the answer to your research question and explain how you arrived at this answer.
Your article should include the following sections:
To verify that your report includes everything it needs, you can use the PRISMA checklist .
Once your report is written, you can publish it in a systematic review database, such as the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews , and/or in a peer-reviewed journal.
In their report, Boyle and colleagues concluded that probiotics cannot be recommended for reducing eczema symptoms or improving quality of life in patients with eczema. Note Generative AI tools like ChatGPT can be useful at various stages of the writing and research process and can help you to write your systematic review. However, we strongly advise against trying to pass AI-generated text off as your own work.
If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.
Research bias
A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources (such as books, journal articles, and theses) related to a specific topic or research question .
It is often written as part of a thesis, dissertation , or research paper , in order to situate your work in relation to existing knowledge.
A literature review is a survey of credible sources on a topic, often used in dissertations , theses, and research papers . Literature reviews give an overview of knowledge on a subject, helping you identify relevant theories and methods, as well as gaps in existing research. Literature reviews are set up similarly to other academic texts , with an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion .
An annotated bibliography is a list of source references that has a short description (called an annotation ) for each of the sources. It is often assigned as part of the research process for a paper .
A systematic review is secondary research because it uses existing research. You don’t collect new data yourself.
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Turney, S. (2023, November 20). Systematic Review | Definition, Example & Guide. Scribbr. Retrieved August 21, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/systematic-review/
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Literature review vs. systematic review, your librarian.
It’s common to confuse systematic and literature reviews because both are used to provide a summary of the existent literature or research on a specific topic. Regardless of this commonality, both types of review vary significantly. The following table provides a detailed explanation as well as the differences between systematic and literature reviews.
Kysh, Lynn (2013): Difference between a systematic review and a literature review. [figshare]. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.766364
Parts of the Article
Literature review vs. systematic review.
It is common to confuse literature and systematic reviews because both are used to provide a summary of the existing literature or research on a specific topic. Despite this commonality, these two reviews vary significantly. The table below highlights the differences.
| Qualitatively summarizes evidence on a topic using informal or subjective methods to collect and interpret studies | High-level overview of primary research on a focused question that identifies, selects, synthesizes, and appraises all high quality research evidence to that question |
Provide summary or overview of topic | Answer a focused clinical question Eliminate bias | |
Can be a general topic or specific question | Clearly defined and answerable clinical question | |
Introduction Methods Discussion Conclusion Reference List | Pre-specified eligibility criteria Systematic search strategy Assessment of the validity of findings Interpretation and presentation of results Reference list | |
One or more | Three or more | |
Weeks to months | Months to years (average 18 months) | |
Understanding of topic Perform searches of one or more databases | Thorough knowledge of topic Perform searches of all relevant databases Statistical analysis resources (for meta-analysis) | |
Provides summary of literature on a topic | Connects practicing clinicians to high-quality evidence Supports evidence-based practice |
Kysh, Lynn (2013). Difference between a systematic review and a literature review. figshare. Poster. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.766364.v1
TREAD* Lightly and Consider...
* Booth A, Sutton A, Papaioannou D. Systematic approaches to a successful literature review. 2nd edition. Los Angeles, CA: Sage, 2016. (p.36)
A literature review provides an overview of what's been written about a specific topic. It is a generic term. There are many different types of literature reviews which can cover a wide range of subjects at various levels of completeness and comprehensiveness. Choosing the type of review you wish to conduct will depend on the purpose of your review, and the time and resources you have available.
This page will provide definitions of some of the most common review types in the health sciences and links to relevant reporting guidelines or methodological papers.
Grant MJ, Booth A. A typology of reviews: an analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies . Health Information & Libraries Journal . 2009 Jun 1;26(2):91-108.
Traditional (narrative) literature reviews provide a broad overview of a research topic with no clear methodological approach. Information is collected and interpreted unsystematically with subjective summaries of findings. Authors aim to describe and discuss the literature from a contextual or theoretical point of view. Although the reviews may be conducted by topic experts, due to preconceived ideas or conclusions, they could be subject to bias. This sort of literature review can be appropriate if you have a broad topic area, are working on your own, or have time constraints.
Agarwal S, Charlesworth M, Elrakhawy M. How to write a narrative review . Anaesthesia . 2023;78(9):1162-1166. doi:10.1111/anae.16016
Green BN, Johnson CD, Adams A. Writing narrative literature reviews for peer-reviewed journals: secrets of the trade . Journal of Chiropractic Medicine . 2006;5(3):101-117. doi:10.1016/S0899-3467(07)60142-6.
Ferrari R. Writing narrative style literature reviews . Medical Writing. 2015 Dec 1;24(4):230-5.
Greenhalgh T, Thorne S, Malterud K. Time to challenge the spurious hierarchy of systematic over narrative reviews ? European journal of clinical investigation . 2018;48:e12931.
CIHR Definition of Knowledge Syntheses:
“The contextualization and integration of research findings of individual research studies within the larger body of knowledge on the topic. A synthesis must be reproducible and transparent in its methods, using quantitative and/or qualitative methods.” - A Guide to Knowledge Synthesis, CIHR
Grimshaw J. A Guide to Knowledge Synthesis [Internet]. CIHR. Canadian Institutes of Health Research; 2010.
Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Synthesis Resources [Internet]. CIHR. Canadian Institutes of Health Research; 2013.
Booth A, Noyes J, Flemming K, Gerhardus A, Wahlster P, van der Wilt, Gert Jan, et al. Structured methodology review identified seven (RETREAT) criteria for selecting qualitative evidence synthesis approaches . Journal of clinical epidemiology. 2018;99:41-52.
Kastner M, Tricco AC, Soobiah C, et al. What is the most appropriate knowledge synthesis method to conduct a review? Protocol for a scoping review . BMC Medical Research Methodology . 2012;12:114. doi:10.1186/1471-2288-12-114.
Kastner M, Antony J, Soobiah C, Straus SE, Tricco AC. Conceptual recommendations for selecting the most appropriate knowledge synthesis method to answer research questions related to complex evidence . Journal of Clinical Epidemiology . 2016;73:43-49.
Knowledge Synthesis Support at UHN
A systematic review attempts to identify, appraise and synthesize all the empirical evidence that meets pre-specified eligibility criteria to answer a given research question. Researchers conducting systematic reviews use explicit methods aimed at minimizing bias, in order to produce more reliable findings that can be used to inform decision making. (See Section 1.2 in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions .)
A systematic review is not the same as a traditional (narrative) review or a literature review. Unlike other kinds of reviews, systematic reviews must be as thorough and unbiased as possible, and must also make explicit how the search was conducted. Systematic reviews may or may not include a meta-analysis.
On average, a systematic review project takes a year. If your timelines are shorter, you may wish to consider other types of synthesis projects or a traditional (narrative) review. See suggested timelines for a Cochrane Review for reference.
Systematic Review Overview (UHN)
Systematic Review Overview workshop recording (UHN)
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA)
Greyson D, Rafferty E, Slater L, et al. Systematic review searches must be systematic, comprehensive, and transparent: a critique of Perman et al. BMC public health . 2019;19:153.
Ioannidis J. P. (2016). The Mass Production of Redundant, Misleading, and Conflicted Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses . The Milbank quarterly , 94 (3), 485-514.
A subset of systematic reviews. Meta-analysis is a technique that statistically combines the results of quantitative studies to provide a more precise effect of the results.
"..a form of knowledge synthesis that addresses an exploratory research question aimed at mapping key concepts, types of evidence, and gaps in research related to a defined area or field by systematically searching, selecting and synthesizing existing knowledge." (Colquhoun, HL et al., 2014)
Arksey, H., & O'Malley, L. (2005). Scoping studies: Towards a methodological framework . International Journal of Social Research Methodology: Theory and Practice , 8 (1), 19-32. doi:10.1080/1364557032000119616.
Levac, D., Colquhoun, H. & O'Brien, K.K. Scoping studies: advancing the methodology . Implementation Sci 5 , 69 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-5-69
Colquhoun, H. L., Levac, D., O'Brien, K. K., Straus, S., Tricco, A. C., Perrier, L., . . . Moher, D. (2014). Scoping reviews: Time for clarity in definition, methods, and reporting . Journal of Clinical Epidemiology , 67(12), 1291-1294. doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2014.03.013.
Peters MD, Godfrey CM, Khalil H, McInerney P, Parker D, Soares CB. Guidance for conducting systematic scoping reviews . Int.J.Evid Based.Healthc . 2015 Sep;13(3):141-146.
Peters MDJ, Godfrey C, McInerney P, Munn Z, Tricco AC, Khalil, H. Chapter 11: Scoping Reviews (2020 version). In: Aromataris E, Munn Z (Editors). JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis , JBI, 2020.
Tricco AC, Lillie E, Zarin W, O'Brien KK, Colquhoun H, Levac D, et al. PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and Explanation . Ann Intern Med . [Epub ahead of print ] doi: 10.7326/M18-0850.
“…a type of knowledge synthesis in which systematic review processes are accelerated and methods are streamlined to complete the review more quickly than is the case for typical systematic reviews. Rapid reviews take an average of 5–12 weeks to complete, thus providing evidence within a shorter time frame required for some health policy and systems decisions.” (Tricco AC et al., 2017)
Ganann R, Ciliska D, Thomas H. Expediting systematic reviews: methods and implications of rapid reviews . Implementation Science : IS . 2010;5:56. doi:10.1186/1748-5908-5-56.
Langlois EV, Straus SE, Antony J, King VJ, Tricco AC. Using rapid reviews to strengthen health policy and systems and progress towards universal health coverage . BMJ Global Health . 2019;4:e001178.
Tricco AC, Langlois EV, Straus SE, editors. Rapid reviews to strengthen health policy and systems: a practical guide . Geneva: World Health Organization; 2017. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
Watt A, Cameron A, Sturm L, Lathlean T , Babidge W, Blamey S, et al. Rapid reviews versus full systematic reviews: An inventory of current methods and practice in health technology assessment . International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care . 2008;24(2):133-9.
“Clinical practice guidelines are systematically developed statements to assist practitioner and patient decisions about appropriate health care for specific clinical circumstances.” Source: Institute of Medicine. (1990). Clinical Practice Guidelines: Directions for a New Program, M.J. Field and K.N. Lohr (eds.) Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Page 38.
–Disclosure of any author conflicts of interest
AGREE Reporting Checklist
Alonso-Coello, P., Oxman, A. D., Moberg, J., Brignardello-Petersen, R., Akl, E. A., Davoli, M., ... & Guyatt, G. H. (2016). GRADE Evidence to Decision (EtD) frameworks: a systematic and transparent approach to making well informed healthcare choices. 2: Clinical practice guidelines . BMJ , 353 , i2089.
Pawson R, Greenhalgh T, Harvey G, Walshe K. Realist review - a new method of systematic review designed for complex policy interventions . Journal of Health Services Research & Policy . 2005;10:21-34.
Rycroft-Malone J, McCormack B, Hutchinson AM, et al. Realist synthesis: illustrating the method for implementation research . Implementation science : IS . 2012;7:33.
Wong G, Greenhalgh T, Westhorp G, Pawson R. Realist methods in medical education research: what are they and what can they contribute? Medical Education . 2012;46(1):89-96.
"Mixed-methods systematic reviews can be defined as combining the findings of qualitative and quantitative studies within a single systematic review to address the same overlapping or complementary review questions." (Harden A, 2010)
Harden A. Mixed-Methods Systematic Reviews: Integrating quantitative and qualitative findings . NCDDR:FOCUS. 2010.
Lizarondo L, Stern C, Apostolo J, et al. Five common pitfalls in mixed methods systematic reviews: lessons learned . J Clin Epidemiol . 2022;148:178-183. doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2022.03.014
Pluye P, Hong QN. Combining the power of stories and the power of numbers: mixed methods research and mixed studies reviews . Annual review of public health . 2014;35:29-45.
Pearson A, White H, Bath-Hextall F, Salmond S, Apostolo J, Kirkpatrick P. A mixed-methods approach to systematic reviews . International journal of evidence-based healthcare . 2015;13:121-131.
The Joanna Briggs Institute 2014 Reviewers Manual: Methodology for JBI Mixed Methods Systematic Reviews .
There are various methods for integrating the results from qualitative studies. "Systematic reviews of qualitative research have an important role in informing the delivery of evidence-based healthcare. Qualitative systematic reviews have investigated the culture of communities, exploring how consumers experience, perceive and manage their health and journey through the health system, and can evaluate components and activities of health services such as health promotion and community development." (Lockwood C et al., 2015)
Booth A, Noyes J, Flemming K, Gerhardus A, Wahlster P, van der Wilt, Gert Jan, et al. Structured methodology review identified seven (RETREAT) criteria for selecting qualitative evidence synthesis approaches . Journal of clinical epidemiology. 2018;99:41-52.
Ring N, Jepson R, Ritchie K. Methods of synthesizing qualitative research studies for health technology assessment . International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care . 2011;27:384-390.
Lockwood C, Munn Z, Porritt K. Qualitative research synthesis: methodological guidance for systematic reviewers utilizing meta-aggregation . International journal of evidence-based healthcare . 2015;13:179-187.
France EF, Cunningham M, Ring N, et al. Improving reporting of meta-ethnography: The eMERGe reporting guidance . Journal of advanced nursing . 2019.
Barnett-Page E, Thomas J. Methods for the synthesis of qualitative research: a critical review . BMC Med Res Methodol . 2009;9:59. Published 2009 Aug 11. doi:10.1186/1471-2288-9-59.
Thomas J, Harden A. Methods for the thematic synthesis of qualitative research in systematic reviews . BMC Med Res Methodol . 2008;8:45. Published 2008 Jul 10. doi:10.1186/1471-2288-8-45
Lewin S, Booth A, Glenton C, et al. Applying GRADE-CERQual to qualitative evidence synthesis findings: introduction to the series . Implementation science : IS . 2018;13:2.
"Narrative synthesis refers to an approach to the systematic review and synthesis of findings from multiple studies that relies primarily on the use of words and text to summarise and explain the findings of the synthesis. Whilst narrative synthesis can involve the manipulation of statistical data, the defining characteristic is that it adopts a textual approach to the process of synthesis to ‘tell the story’ of the findings from the included studies." (Popay J, 2006)
Tricco AC, Soobiah C, Antony J, et al. A scoping review identifies multiple emerging knowledge synthesis methods, but few studies operationalize the method . Journal of Clinical Epidemiology . 2016;73:19-28.
Popay J, Roberts H, Sowden A, Petticrew M, Arai L, Rodgers M, et al. Guidance on the conduct of narrative synthesis in systematic reviews . Lancaster: ESRC Research Methods Programme; 2006.
Snilstveit B, Oliver S, Vojtkova M. Narrative approaches to systematic review and synthesis of evidence for international development policy and practice . Journal of development effectiveness . 2012 Sep 1;4(3):409-29.
Lucas PJ, Baird J, Arai L, Law C, Roberts HM. Worked examples of alternative methods for the synthesis of qualitative and quantitative research in systematic reviews . BMC medical research methodology . 2007 Dec;7(1):4.
Ryan R. Cochrane Consumer sand Communication Review Group. Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group: data synthesis and analysis . June 2013.
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People often confuse systematic and literature (narrative) reviews. They both are used to provide a summary of the existing literature or research on a specific topic.
A narrative or traditional literature review is a comprehensive, critical, and objective analysis of the current knowledge on a topic. They are an essential part of the research process and help to establish a theoretical framework and focus or context for your research. A literature review will help you to identify patterns and trends in the literature so that you can identify gaps or inconsistencies in a body of knowledge. This should lead you to a sufficiently focused research question that justifies your research.
A systematic review is comprehensive and has minimal bias. It is based on a specific question and uses eligibility criteria and a pre-planned protocol. This type of study evaluates the quality of evidence.
A systematic review can be either quantitative or qualitative:
Narrative reviews in comparison provide a perspective on topic (like a textbook chapter), may have no specified search strategy, might have significant bias issues, and may not evaluate quality of evidence.
This table provides a detailed comparison of systematic and literature (narrative) reviews.
N/A | Can register on PROSPERO or another online repository Optional to publish a full protocol paper | |
often is not systematic or exhaustive | systematic searches of multiple databases and grey literature/supplementary searching | |
Can be a general topic or specific question | "What is the effectivenes of...? (focuses on answering a specific research question) Clearly defined and answerable clinical question Recommend using PICO as a guide | |
N/A | Reporting checklist: PRISMA, Guidance for conducting a review, IOM, Cochrane, etc. | |
One or more | Three or more | |
Weeks to months | Months to years Average eighteen months | |
N/A | Required | |
| narrative | narrative/tabular, sometimes accompanied by a meta-analysis |
There are other comprehensive literature reviews of similar methodology to the systematic review. These tools can help you determine which type of review you may want to conduct.
Use this chart to determine the type of review you are interested in writing and to learn the differences in the stages and processes of various reviews compared to systematic reviews.
Source: Yale University
The type of review you conduct will depend on the purpose of the review, your question, your resources, expertise, and type of data.
Here are two suggested articles to consult if you want to know more about review types:
Grant, M. J., & Booth, A. (2009). A typology of reviews: an analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies. Health information & libraries journal , 26 (2), 91-108. This article defines 14 types of reviews. There is a helpful summary table on pp.94-95
Sutton A, Clowes M, Preston L, Booth A. Meeting the review family: exploring review types and associated information retrieval requirements. Health information & libraries journal . 2019;36(3):202–222. doi:10.1111/hir.12276
This Comparison table is derived from a guide which is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license , and was originally included in a workbook by Amanda Wanner at Plymouth University for Systematic Reviews and Scoping Reviews. Stephanie Roth at Temple University remixed the original version. Many thanks and much appreciation to Amanda Wanner and Stephanie Roth for allowing me to create a derivative of their work.
Funaro, M., Nyhan, K., & Brackett, A. (n.d.). What type of review could you write? Yale Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library.
About Systematic Reviews
Reviews in scientific research are tools that help synthesize literature on a topic of interest and describe its current state. Different types of reviews are conducted depending on the research question and the scope of the review. A systematic review is one such review that is robust, reproducible, and transparent. It involves collating evidence by using all of the eligible and critically appraised literature available on a certain topic. To know more about how to do a systematic review , you can check out our article at the link. The primary aim of a systematic review is to recommend best practices and inform policy development. Hence, there is a need for high-quality, focused, and precise methods and reporting. For more exploratory research questions, methods such as a scoping review are employed. Be sure you understand the difference between a systematic review and a scoping review , if you don’t, check out the link to learn more.
When the word “review” alone is used to describe a research paper, the first thing that should come to mind is that it is a literature review. Almost every researcher starts off their career with literature reviews. To know the difference between a systematic review and a literature review , read on here. Traditional literature reviews are also sometimes referred to as narrative reviews since they use narrative analysis to synthesize data. In this article, we will explore the differences between a systematic review and a narrative review, in further detail.
(Article continues below)
Both systematic and narrative reviews are classified as secondary research studies since they both use existing primary research studies e.g. case studies. Despite this similarity, there are key differences in their methodology and scope. The major differences between them lie in their objectives, methodology, and application areas.
The main objective of a systematic review is to formulate a well-defined research question and use qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze all the available evidence attempting to answer the question. In contrast, narrative reviews can address one or more questions with a much broader scope. The efficacy of narrative reviews is irreplaceable in tracking the development of a scientific principle, or a clinical concept. This ability to conduct a wider exploration could be lost in the restrictive framework of a systematic review.
For systematic reviews, there are guidelines provided by the Cochrane Handbook, ROSES, and the PRISMA statement that can help determine the protocol, and methodology to be used. However, for narrative reviews, such standard guidelines do not exist. Although, there are recommendations available.
Systematic reviews comprise an explicit, transparent, and pre-specified methodology. The methodology followed in a systematic review is as follows,
A narrative review on the other hand does not have a strict protocol to be followed. The design of the review depends on its author and the objectives of the review. As yet, there is no consensus on the standard structure of a narrative review. The preferred approach is the IMRAD (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion) [2]. Apart from the author’s preferences, a narrative review structure must respect the journal style and conventions followed in the respective field.
Narrative reviews are aimed at identifying and summarizing what has previously been published. Their general applications include exploring existing debates, the appraisal of previous studies conducted on a certain topic, identifying knowledge gaps, and speculating on the latest interventions available. They are also used to track and report on changes that have occurred in an existing field of research. The main purpose is to deepen the understanding in a certain research area. The results of a systematic review provide the most valid evidence to guide clinical decision-making and inform policy development [1]. They have now become the gold standard in evidence-based medicine [1].
Although both types of reviews come with their own benefits and limitations, researchers should carefully consider the differences between them before making a decision on which review type to use.
Traditional or narrative literature reviews.
A narrative or traditional literature review is a comprehensive, critical and objective analysis of the current knowledge on a topic. They are an essential part of the research process and help to establish a theoretical framework and focus or context for your research. A literature review will help you to identify patterns and trends in the literature so that you can identify gaps or inconsistencies in a body of knowledge. This should lead you to a sufficiently focused research question that justifies your research.
Onwuegbuzie and Frels (pp 24-25, 2016) define four common types of narrative reviews:
References and additional resources
Baker, J. D. (2016) The purpose, process and methods of writing a literature review: Editorial . Association of Operating Room Nurses. AORN Journal, 103 (3), 265-269. doi:10.1016/j.aorn.2016.01.016
Charles Sturt University is an Australian University, TEQSA Provider Identification: PRV12018. CRICOS Provider: 00005F.
Dr. David McClellan, B.Sc., M.H.A
A traditional review provides a broad overview of a subject without any method of approach or organized manner. This type of review includes current research and information that already exists about a subject. It identifies gaps in research, compares different views, and highlights exemplary studies. A traditional view concludes by summarizing the information in general. According to Paré, Kitsiou (2017), “the narrative review is the “traditional” way of reviewing the extant literature and is skewed towards a qualitative interpretation of prior knowledge. Put simply, a narrative review attempts to summarize or synthesize what has been written on a particular topic but does not seek generalization or cumulative knowledge from what is reviewed. Instead, the review team often undertakes the task of accumulating and synthesizing the literature to demonstrate the value of a particular point of view.” The timeline of traditional review is from weeks to months, whereas a systematic review is from months to years.
Systematic reviews are more extensive including much more data and findings. They use a methodological approach and utilize every resource available. A literature review involves one or more authors, whereas a systematic review involves at least three. A systematic approach is much more reliable and thorough with more authors and resources. According to
Misra and Agarwal (2018), “ a systematic literature review should be conducted, which must be extensive, based on strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, covering multiple databases and preferably, also attempt to look at unpublished literature by browsing abstracts of major conferences and ongoing clinical trials.” Systematic reviews are must more reputable.
Systematic reviews answer a research question using all evidence or data that is pertinent. A meta-analysis doesn’t answer a question but uses statistical methods to form a summary of related literature. Ahn and Kang (2018, para 2) states, “ a meta-analysis is a valid, objective, and scientific method of analyzing and combining different results. Usually, in order to obtain more reliable results, a meta-analysis is mainly conducted on randomized controlled trials, which have a high level of evidence.” Both of them present results by combining and analyzing data from different studies conducted on similar research topics.
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses can be used together by collecting all the information pertinent to the study. By collecting and comparing all the information available, researchers can gain insight into the case and improve the effectiveness of the study. A meta-analysis provides an objective review of a study minimizing any bias or favoritism.
Ahn, E., & Kang, H. (2018). Introduction to systematic review and meta-analysis. Korean Journal of anesthesiology , 71 (2), 103–112. DOI:10.4097/kjae.2018.71.2.103
Misra, D. P., & Agarwal, V. (2018). Systematic Reviews: Challenges for Their Justification, Related Comprehensive Searches, and Implications. Journal of Korean medical science , 33 (12), e92. DOI:10.3346/jkms.2018.33.e92
Paré, G., Kitsiou, S. (2017). Methods for Literature Reviews. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK481583/
Hello everyone… my name is David McClellan and I reside in Southern California.
Text to speech
The evidence pyramid (image above) visually depicts the evidential strength of different research designs. Studies with the highest internal validity, characterized by a high degree of quantitative analysis, review, analysis, and stringent scientific methodology, are at the top of the pyramid. Observational research and expert opinion reside at the bottom of the pyramid. In evidence-based practice the systematic review is considered the highest level of information and is at the top of the pyramid. ( The pyramid was produced by HLWIKI Canada and is CC).
September 26, 2017.
There are many types of reviews of the medical and public health evidence, each with its own benefits and challenges. In this blog post, we detail five key differences between a systematic review and other types of reviews, including narrative and comprehensive reviews.
First, we must define some terms. “Literature review” is a general term that describes a summary of the evidence on a certain topic. Literature reviews can be very simple or highly complex, and they can use a variety of methods for finding, assessing, and presenting evidence. A “systematic review” is a specific type of review that uses rigorous and transparent methods in an effort to summarize all of the available evidence with little to no bias. A good systematic review adheres to the international standards set forth in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 27-item checklist. 1 Reviews that are less rigorous are often called “narrative,” “comprehensive,” or simply “literature reviews.”
So, what are the 5 key differences between a systematic review and other types of review?
1. The goal of the review The goal of a literature review can be broad and descriptive (example: “ Describe the available treatments for sleep apnea ”) or it can be to answer a specific question (example: “ What is the efficacy of CPAP for people with sleep apnea? ”). The goal of a systematic review is to answer a specific and focused question (example: “ Which treatment for sleep apnea reduces the apnea-hypopnea index more: CPAP or mandibular advancement device? ”). People seeking to make evidence-based decisions look to systematic reviews due to their completeness and reduced risk of bias.
2. Searching for evidence Where and how one searches for evidence is an important difference. While literature reviews require only one database or source, systematic reviews require more comprehensive efforts to locate evidence. Multiple databases are searched, each with a specifically tailored search strategy (usually designed and implemented by a specialist librarian). In addition, systematic reviews often include attempts to find data beyond typical databases. Systematic reviewers might search conference abstracts or the web sites of professional associations or pharmaceutical companies, and they may contact study authors to obtain additional or unpublished data. All of these extra steps reflect an attempt to minimize bias in the summary of the evidence. 3. Assessing search results In a systematic review, the parameters for inclusion are established at the start of the project and applied consistently to search results. Usually, such parameters take the form of PICOs (population, intervention, comparison, outcomes). Reviewers hold search results against strict criteria based on the PICOs to determine appropriateness for inclusion. Another key component of a systematic review is dual independent review of search results; each search result is reviewed by at least two people independently. In many other literature reviews, there is only a single reviewer. This can result in bias (even if it is unintentional) and missed studies.
4. Summary of findings In a systematic review, an effort is usually made to assess the quality of the evidence, often using risk of bias assessment, at the study level and often across studies. Other literature reviews rarely assess and report any formal quality assessment by individual study. Risk of bias assessment is important to a thorough summary of the evidence, since conclusions based on biased results can be incorrect (and dangerous, at worst). Results from a systematic review can sometimes be pooled quantitatively (e.g., in a meta-analysis) to provide numeric estimates of treatment effects, for example.
5. Utility of results Due to the rigor and transparency applied to a systematic review, it is not surprising that the results are usually of higher quality and at lower risk of bias than results from other types of literature review. Literature reviews can be useful to inform background sections of papers and reports and to give the reader an overview of a topic. Systematic reviews are used by professional associations and government agencies to issue guidelines and recommendations; such important activities are rarely based on a non-systematic review. Clinicians may also rely on high quality systematic reviews to make evidence-based decisions about patient care.
Each type of review has a place in the scientific literature. For narrow, specific research questions, a systematic review can provide a thorough summary and assessment of all of the available evidence. For broader research questions, other types of literature review can summarize the best available evidence using targeted search strategies. Ultimately, the choice of methodology depends on the research question and the goal of the review.
[1] Moher D, Liberati A, Tetzlaff J, Altman DG, The PRISMA Group (2009). Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyse s: The PRISMA Statement. PLoS Med 6(7): e1000097. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed1000097.
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By Carol Hollier on 07-Jan-2020 14:23:00
For those not immersed in systematic reviews, understanding the difference between a systematic review and a systematic literature review can be confusing. It helps to realise that a “systematic review” is a clearly defined thing, but ambiguity creeps in around the phrase “systematic literature review” because people can and do use it in a variety of ways.
A systematic review is a research study of research studies. To qualify as a systematic review, a review needs to adhere to standards of transparency and reproducibility. It will use explicit methods to identify, select, appraise, and synthesise empirical results from different but similar studies. The study will be done in stages:
Some reviews also state what degree of confidence can be placed on that answer, using the GRADE scale. By going through these steps, a systematic review provides a broad evidence base on which to make decisions about medical interventions, regulatory policy, safety, or whatever question is analysed. By documenting each step explicitly, the review is not only reproducible, but can be updated as more evidence on the question is generated.
Sometimes when people talk about a “systematic literature review”, they are using the phrase interchangeably with “systematic review”. However, people can also use the phrase systematic literature review to refer to a literature review that is done in a fairly systematic way, but without the full rigor of a systematic review.
For instance, for a systematic review, reviewers would strive to locate relevant unpublished studies in grey literature and possibly by contacting researchers directly. Doing this is important for combatting publication bias, which is the tendency for studies with positive results to be published at a higher rate than studies with null results. It is easy to understand how this well-documented tendency can skew a review’s findings, but someone conducting a systematic literature review in the loose sense of the phrase might, for lack of resource or capacity, forgo that step.
Another difference might be in who is doing the research for the review. A systematic review is generally conducted by a team including an information professional for searches and a statistician for meta-analysis, along with subject experts. Team members independently evaluate the studies being considered for inclusion in the review and compare results, adjudicating any differences of opinion. In contrast, a systematic literature review might be conducted by one person.
Overall, while a systematic review must comply with set standards, you would expect any review called a systematic literature review to strive to be quite comprehensive. A systematic literature review would contrast with what is sometimes called a narrative or journalistic literature review, where the reviewer’s search strategy is not made explicit, and evidence may be cherry-picked to support an argument.
The patents indexed help find results of research not otherwise publicly available because it has been done for commercial purposes.
The FSTA thesaurus will surface results that would be missed with keyword searching alone. Since the thesaurus is designed for the sciences of food and health, it is the most comprehensive for the field.
All indexing and abstracting in FSTA is in English, so you can do your searching in English yet pick up non-English language results, and get those results translated if they meet the criteria for inclusion in a systematic review.
FSTA includes grey literature (conference proceedings) which can be difficult to find, but is important to include in comprehensive searches.
FSTA content has a deep archive. It goes back to 1969 for farm to fork research, and back to the late 1990s for food-related human nutrition literature—systematic reviews (and any literature review) should include not just the latest research but all relevant research on a question.
FSTA allows you to easily search for review articles (both narrative and systematic reviews) by using the subject heading or thesaurus term “REVIEWS" and an appropriate free-text keyword.
On the Web of Science or EBSCO platform, an FSTA search for reviews about cassava would look like this: DE "REVIEWS" AND cassava.
On the Ovid platform using the multi-field search option, the search would look like this: reviews.sh. AND cassava.af.
In 2011 FSTA introduced the descriptor META-ANALYSIS, making it easy to search specifically for systematic reviews that include a meta-analysis published from that year onwards.
On the EBSCO or Web of Science platform, an FSTA search for systematic reviews with meta-analyses about staphylococcus aureus would look like this: DE "META-ANALYSIS" AND staphylococcus aureus.
On the Ovid platform using the multi-field search option, the search would look like this: meta-analysis.sh. AND staphylococcus aureus.af.
Systematic reviews with meta-analyses published before 2011 are included in the REVIEWS controlled vocabulary term in the thesaurus.
An easy way to locate pre-2011 systematic reviews with meta-analyses is to search the subject heading or thesaurus term "REVIEWS" AND meta-analysis as a free-text keyword AND another appropriate free-text keyword.
On the Web of Science or EBSCO platform, the FSTA search would look like this: DE "REVIEWS" AND meta-analysis AND carbohydrate*
On the Ovid platform using the multi-field search option, the search would look like this: reviews .sh. AND meta-analysis.af. AND carbohydrate*.af.
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The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the perioperative and short-term results of the Robot of Stereotactic Assistance (ROSA) compared to traditional approaches in individuals with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). We will perform a comprehensive computerized search of PubMed, CNKI, Embase, and Google Scholar to identify relevant literature on ROSA vs. conventional therapy for intracerebral hemorrhage, covering publications from the inception of each database until July 2024. This study will include both English and Chinese language studies. Literature screening will adhere strictly to inclusion and exclusion criteria, focusing on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies. The ROBINS-I tool is utilized for evaluating bias risk in non-RCTs. Analysis of the data from the studies included will be conducted with Review Manager 5.4.1. The final analysis included 7 retrospective cohort studies and 1 randomized controlled study, involving a total of 844 patients. Among these, 433 patients underwent ROSA, while 411 received conventional treatment (conservative treatment, conventional craniotomy, or stereotactic frame-assisted surgery). Compared to conventional therapy, patients treated with ROSA showed improvements in operative time, postoperative rebleeding, postoperative extubation time, and intracranial infection. Nonetheless, there was no notable contrast in mortality or central hyperthermia outcomes between the two treatments. ROSA is a safe and viable option for treating patients with cerebral hemorrhage, showing significant advantages in terms of surgery duration, postoperative rebleeding, time to remove the breathing tube, and intracranial infection compared to conservative treatment, traditional craniotomy, or stereotactic surgery.
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The study contains the original contributions discussed in the article. For further questions, reach out to the respective author/s directly. No datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.
Randomized controlled trials
Newcastle–Ottawa Scale
Confidence intervals
Odds ratios
Weighted mean difference
Standard deviation
Not available
Operative time
Robot of Stereotactic Assistance
Conventional craniotomy
Glasgow Coma Scale
Barthel Index
Glasgow Outcome Scale
Karnofsky Performance Status
Modified Rankin Scale
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Each author contributed to the study’s conceptualization and design. LL and HCL handled data collection and analysis. LW processed the data and images. LL drafted the initial manuscript, which TXP critically reviewed and revised to ensure significant intellectual content. Each writer gave input on previous versions and endorsed the final draft of the document.
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Luo, L., He, Cl., Li, W. et al. Systematic review and meta-analysis of ROSA vs. conventional therapy for intracerebral hemorrhage. J Robotic Surg 18 , 326 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11701-024-02074-7
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They aim to summarise the best available evidence on a particular research topic. The main differences between traditional reviews and systematic reviews are summarised below in terms of the following characteristics: Authors, Study protocol, Research question, Search strategy, Sources of literature, Selection criteria, Critical appraisal ...
Systematic Literature Review vs Meta Analysis. It would be understandable to think that a systematic literature review is similar to a meta analysis. But, whereas a systematic review can include several research studies to answer a specific question, typically a meta analysis includes a comparison of different studies to suss out any ...
Systematic review methods have influenced many other review types, including the traditional literature review. Covidence is a web-based tool that saves you time at the screening, selection, data extraction and quality assessment stages of your systematic review. It supports easy collaboration across teams and provides a clear overview of task ...
A narrative review is the "older" format of the two, presenting a (non-systematic) summation and analysis of available literature on a specific topic of interest. Interestingly, probably because the "approach" is non-systematic, there are no acknowledged formal guidelines for writing narrative reviews.
Qualitative, narrative synthesis. Thematic analysis, may include conceptual models. Rapid review. Assessment of what is already known about a policy or practice issue, by using systematic review methods to search and critically appraise existing research. Completeness of searching determined by time constraints.
Systematic Review: Narrative (or Traditional Literature) Review: Question… A well-defined research question. Not necessarily focused on a specific question. May give an overview of a topic. Search… Designed with the goal of finding all existing literature on the research question, both published and unpublished.
It is common to confuse systematic and literature reviews as both are used to provide a summary of the existent literature or research on a specific topic. Even with this common ground, both types vary significantly. Please review the following chart (and its corresponding poster linked below) for the detailed explanation of each as well as the ...
Systematic review vs. literature review. A literature review is a type of review that uses a less systematic and formal approach than a systematic review. Typically, an expert in a topic will qualitatively summarize and evaluate previous work, without using a formal, explicit method.
Literature Review vs. Systematic Review. It's common to confuse systematic and literature reviews because both are used to provide a summary of the existent literature or research on a specific topic. Regardless of this commonality, both types of review vary significantly. The following table provides a detailed explanation as well as the ...
Literature Review: Systematic Review: Definition. Qualitatively summarizes evidence on a topic using informal or subjective methods to collect and interpret studies: High-level overview of primary research on a focused question that identifies, selects, synthesizes, and appraises all high quality research evidence to that question ...
A systematic review is not the same as a traditional (narrative) review or a literature review. Unlike other kinds of reviews, systematic reviews must be as thorough and unbiased as possible, and must also make explicit how the search was conducted. Systematic reviews may or may not include a meta-analysis.
People often confuse systematic and literature (narrative) reviews. They both are used to provide a summary of the existing literature or research on a specific topic. A narrative or traditional literature review is a comprehensive, critical, and objective analysis of the current knowledge on a topic.
Acommon type of submission at any Journal is a review of the published information related to a topic.These are often returned to their authors without review, usually because they are literature reviews rather than systematic reviews. There is a big difference between the two (Table 1).Here, we summarise the differences, how they are used in academic work, and why a general literature review ...
When the word "review" alone is used to describe a research paper, the first thing that should come to mind is that it is a literature review. Almost every researcher starts off their career with literature reviews. To know the difference between a systematic review and a literature review, read on here. Traditional literature reviews are ...
General literature review that provides a review of the most important and critical aspects of the current knowledge of the topic. This general literature review forms the introduction to a thesis or dissertation and must be defined by the research objective, underlying hypothesis or problem or the reviewer's argumentative thesis.
Systematic reviews are more extensive including much more data and findings. They use a methodological approach and utilize every resource available. A literature review involves one or more ...
Traditional Literature Review (TLR) has been stated to be a retrospective account of previous research on certain topic (Li & Wang, 2018). Meanwhile, Systematic Literature Review (SLR) has been stated as a means of evaluating and interpreting all available research significant to a singular research question, topic area, or phenomenon of ...
Literature reviews establish the foundation of academic inquires. However, in the planning field, we lack rigorous systematic reviews. In this article, through a systematic search on the methodology of literature review, we categorize a typology of literature reviews, discuss steps in conducting a systematic literature review, and provide suggestions on how to enhance rigor in literature ...
1 Department of Family Medicine, Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta. Nigeria. E mail:[email protected]. Traditional and systematic literature reviews ar e the two main types of r eview we ...
The evidence pyramid (image above) visually depicts the evidential strength of different research designs. Studies with the highest internal validity, characterized by a high degree of quantitative analysis, review, analysis, and stringent scientific methodology, are at the top of the pyramid.
2. Searching for evidence. Where and how one searches for evidence is an important difference. While literature reviews require only one database or source, systematic reviews require more comprehensive efforts to locate evidence. Multiple databases are searched, each with a specifically tailored search strategy (usually designed and ...
In contrast, a systematic literature review might be conducted by one person. Overall, while a systematic review must comply with set standards, you would expect any review called a systematic literature review to strive to be quite comprehensive. A systematic literature review would contrast with what is sometimes called a narrative or ...
The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the perioperative and short-term results of the Robot of Stereotactic Assistance (ROSA) compared to traditional approaches in individuals with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). We will perform a comprehensive computerized search of PubMed, CNKI, Embase, and Google Scholar to identify relevant literature on ROSA vs ...