Librarians are members of the faculty and are formally assigned to academic units. Most standards recommend having a librarian as part of your systematic review team. The Librarians offer consultations and workshops for:
The Cochrane Handbook of Systematic Reviews states the average length of time to complete a systematic review is over a year. While a specific timeline varies depending on the scope of research question, the breadth of articles found, and whether meta-analysis is conducted, you should plan to spend at least 12-18 months working on the systematic review before it can be submitted for publication.
Research questions that are appropriate for a systematic review are very specific with a direct, clearly-defined scope. Your librarian can help you develop an appropriate research question for a systematic review or guide you to another type of study that might be more appropriate, such as a scoping review.
A systematic review should begin with the development of a protocol to clarify the objectives and methods of the review, including identifying other resources like the standards and the assessment tools to be utilized. A librarian can recommend resources or conduct a search to ensure another protocol has not been submitted for a similar research question. Every part of a systematic review is aided when a protocol has been created beforehand; as such, we encourage all investigators to register their protocols through a database like Prospero.
A literature search for a Systematic Review may produce thousands of results which is why a citation manager is highly recommended. The University provides free access to EndNote Desktop through the library; other options are Mendeley or Zotero.
A librarian who designs and conducts comprehensive literature searches for a systematic review makes a major scholarly contribution within that project. As such, the librarian should be included as a co-author on the primary manuscript that arises from the project. As a co-author, the librarian can write the section of the manuscript that describes the literature search methodology as well.
A systematic review is a lengthy, multi-stage process that requires a lot of planning and preparation before a literature search begins. Below is a list of things that should be completed before you begin a comprehensive literature review with a librarian.
1. Review the standards for design, conduct, and reporting of systematic reviews. Select one standard to be the guide for your project.
Systematic reviews are unique from other types of reviews due to additional steps, which is why they take significantly longer to complete. There are several standards for reporting or conducting a systematic review available, which are listed on the library’s systematic review libguide. If you are not familiar with the existing standards for systematic reviews, we recommend the PRISMA standard format; however, it is important to note that some journal titles will only accept specific standards. Check the journal’s webpage for their submission requirements if you have a particular journal in mind.
2. Conduct background research on your research question. Has a systematic review already been written?
To assist the librarian in developing the best possible search strategy, plan to discuss your reason for addressing the research question through a systematic review, existing literature on the topic including whether a systematic review has already been written on your topic, and possible terminology in include in the search. Bring any relevant articles you find to your meeting with the librarian as well. If a systematic review already exists, you and librarian will evaluate its validity and whether an update would be of value.
3. Identify and assemble a research team for the project.
A systematic review requires multiple team members in order to perform different tasks as well as to reduce bias. 3 people are recommended for screening articles and extracting data. Other members with specialized skills, such as a librarian for developing the literature search, a statistician for data analysis, and a research assistant to obtain the full-text articles are also important. First time authors are encouraged to work with others who have previous experience with systematic reviews.