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Systematic Review Guide

This guide will help you determine which type of review is right for you and how to navigate the process.

What is a protocol?

In the context of a systematic review, a protocol is the "rational, hypothesis, and planned methods of the review" (Moher et al., 2015). Protocols are often registered before the search and screening portion of the review steps. This is to ensure that the review is based on the pre-defined eligibilty criteria and conducted using the explicity documented methdological approach.

Having a protocol also front-loads a great portion of the work to reduce issues during the decision-making screening process. Lastly, it keeps you honest. If your published systematic review deviates greatly from the protocol, it calls into question the conclusion reached as there was likely greater bias introduced.

Write a Protocol

Discuss the Protocol

With your team, you will want to discuss the parts of the protocol and collaborate on writing it together. The protocol will:

  1. Define your research question and aims.
  2. Specify the inclusion and exclusion criteria.
  3. Decide which databases you will search.
  4. Indicate the quality assessment tools you will use to appraise the literature.
  5. Outline the data extraction process.

Once these topics are discussed and documented, you can begin to write the protocol.


Protocol Development Resources

Protocol Templates

Publish a Protocol

Protocol Registers

Attribution

In addition to credit given for various images, parts of this guide were adapted from work/guides by:

UNC Libraries, University of Reading

Used with permission or in accordance with Creative Commons Licensing.

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