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Review Types

This guide will help you get started with determining which type of review is right for you and your research project.

How to Protocol

Part of the planning phase for a systematic review includes drafting and writing out your research plan AKA your Review Protocol. The protocol will serve as a roadmap to your review, one that specifies the objectives, methods, and outcomes of the systematic review. It must explain your research process in a transparent fashion that allows it to be reproducible for future researchers. The protocol should be designed prior to conducting your literature search and it is usually required for publication.

Although there are a few different protocol guidelines you can refer too, most include the following elements:

  • Keywords used in the search strategy
  • Databases and other sources to be searched
  • Any filters/limits that will be applied
  • The screening process
  • Data to be extracted
  • Summery of data to be reported

Once you have drafted out your protocol, it is highly advised that you register it with an accredited organization. Doing so is a good way to announce your review so others do not working on similar projects  -- See the next tab to learn more

Suggested Protocol Guidelines

Adapted from https://guides.dml.georgetown.edu/systematicreviews/writingaprotocol

"Prospective registration of systematic reviews promotes transparency, helps reduce potential for bias and serves to avoid unintended duplication of reviews. Registration offers advantages to many stakeholders in return for modest additional effort from the researchers registering their reviews” -- (Steward, L., Moher, D., & Shekelle, P., 2012).

One of the most well known registries for systematic review protocols is called PROSPERO. PROSPERO's registration form includes 22 mandatory fields along with 18 additional and optional fields which will help you further explain your protocol. PROSPERO and a few other registries are linked below.

Note:Before committing to a systematic reivew, it is important to check registries like PROSPERO to ensure that no one else is working on a similar project.

Stewart, L., Moher, D., & Shekelle, P. (2012). Why prospective registration of systematic reviews makes sense. Systematic reviews, 1, 7. https://doi.org/10.1186/2046-4053-1-7.