Getting started

• Identify the team
  • PI
  • 2+ reviewers
  • librarian (search strategy)
  • statistician (meta-analysis)
• Define roles, responsibilities, expectations
• Develop a research question using a reliable question framework
  • PICO
  • SPIDER
  • SPICE
  • ECLIPSE

Conduct a preliminary literature search

• Are there existing SRs on the topic?
• What research exists?
• What are the gaps?
• Refine your question as needed

Develop a written protocol

• Team members
• Research Question, objectives and rationale for the study
• Databases and terms/keywords for searching
• Eligibility criteria
  • Population (age, gender, health status, etc.)
  • Study methodology (RCTs, Case Studies, etc.)
  • Intervention of interest
  • Outcomes of interest
  • Setting (hospital, rural, etc.)
  • Date range
  • Language
• Define data elements for extraction
• Identify assessment process and tools
• Methods for data synthesis and reporting
• Register the protocol as appropriate

Conduct literature searches

• Consult/partner with a librarian
• Search multiple databases as appropriate
• Use results for further "hand" searching
• Find gray of unpublished literature

Collect/organize citations

• Select citation manager
  • Mendeley, Zotero, Endnote
• De-duplicate citations
• Upload citations to screening tool as needed
  • Covidence, Rayyan, Abstrackr, HAWC

Screen citations (two or more team members)

• Review titles & abstracts using protocol inclusions/exclusion criteria
• Locate full text and review second time using protocol inclusion/exclusion criteria
• Create PRISMA flow chart

Assess Quality

• Critically appraise each study in inclusive literature
• Extract data
• Create data tables that reflect results

Write the review

• Consult guidance documentation for writing/reporting standards
• Write the review
• Create supplementary materials