Introduction to Systematic Reviews

This course was created to facilitate more meaningful consultations between librarians and Stanford Medicine community members interested in conducting systematic reviews. It opens with a definition of the necessary requirements for a systematic review and comparison between systematic review methodologies and those of other types of reviews. There are multiple organizations that provide guidelines for successful completion of a systematic review and we provide an overview of these guidelines from the Cochrane Collaboration, the National Academy of Medicine (formerly Institute of Medicine), and Joanna Briggs Institute. Next is a discussion of the importance of protocols for determining whether or not a systematic review on your topic of interest has already been completed. Tools for supporting an organized systematic review project are then highlighted, followed by a detailed review of how/why librarians collaborate on these reviews. In the final module, we highlight how you can search for systematic reviews in three major databases: PubMed, Embase, and CINAHL. Throughout the course are small assessments to reinforce concepts and encourage reflection. We hope you find the materials helpful and encourage feedback to [email protected]!