{"id":829,"date":"2015-04-29T03:58:44","date_gmt":"2015-04-29T03:58:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/a-young-researchers-guide-to-a-systematic-review\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T21:16:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T15:46:51","slug":"a-young-researchers-guide-to-a-systematic-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/a-young-researchers-guide-to-a-systematic-review","title":{"rendered":"What is a systematic review? How to write a systematic review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"#systematic-review\">What is a systematic review?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#systematic-review-types\">Types of systematic reviews<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#protocol-writing\">Writing a protocol<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#conducting-systematic-review\">What is the best approach to conducting a systematic review?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#systematic-review-paper-structure\">How is a systematic review article structured?<\/a><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"systematic-review\" style=\"padding-top: 80px; margin-top: -80px;\">What is a systematic review?<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">A systematic review is a highly rigorous review of existing literature that addresses a clearly formulated question. The review systematically searches, identifies, selects, appraises, and synthesizes research evidence relevant to the question using methodology that is explicit, reproducible, and leads to minimum bias.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">A systematic review is more exhaustive than a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/services\/other\/literature-search?utm_source=editageinsights&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=editage-insights-site-systematic-review--row\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">literature review<\/a> as it includes both published and unpublished literature, often called grey literature. Grey literature is a significant part of a systematic review and adds value to the review. This is because grey literature is often more current than published literature and is likely to have less publication bias. Grey literature includes unpublished studies, reports, dissertations, conference papers and abstracts, governmental research, and ongoing clinical trials.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">Conducting a systematic review is a complex process. This article aims to guide you on the different kinds of systematic review, the standard procedures to be followed, and the best approach to conducting and writing a systematic review.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"systematic-review-types\" style=\"padding-top: 80px; margin-top: -80px;\">What are the types of systematic reviews?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Qualitative:<\/strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\"> In this type of systematic review, the results of relevant studies are summarized but not statistically combined.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Quantitative:<\/strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\"> This type of systematic review uses statistical methods to combine the results of two or more studies.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Meta-analysis:<\/strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\"> A meta-analysis uses statistical methods to integrate estimates of effect from relevant studies that are independent but similar and summarize them.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"protocol-writing\" style=\"padding-top: 80px; margin-top: -80px;\">How to write a protocol for a systematic review?<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">Any good systematic review begins with a protocol. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a protocol serves as a road-map for your review and specifies the objectives, methods, and outcomes of primary interest of the systematic review. The purpose of having a protocol is to promote transparency of methods.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3>What does the protocol contain?<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">A protocol defines the search terms, inclusion and exclusion criteria, data that will be analyzed, etc. The protocol needs to be submitted to the journal along with your manuscript. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">A protocol ideally includes the following:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">Databases to be searched and additional sources (particularly for grey literature)<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">Keywords to be used in the search strategy<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">Limits applied to the search.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">Screening process<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">Data to be extracted<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">Summary of data to be reported<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">Most journals expect authors of systematic reviews to use the PRISMA statement or similar other guidelines to write their protocol.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3>What is the PRISMA statement?<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">The PRISMA Statement is a document that consists of a 27-item checklist and a flow diagram and aims to guide authors on how to develop a systematic review protocol and what to include when writing the review. Anybody writing a systematic <a href=\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/services\/other\/literature-search?utm_source=editageinsights&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=editage-insights-site-systematic-review--row\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">literature review<\/a> should be familiar with the PRISMA statement. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Should I register a systematic review protocol?<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">Once you have written your protocol, it is advisable to register it. Registering your protocol is a good way to announce that you are working on a review, so that others do not start working on it.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Where can I register a protocol for a systematic review?<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">The available protocol registries for systematic reviews are:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">Campbell Collaboration: Specific to systematic reviews of social interventions<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">Cochrane Collaboration: Specific to systematic reviews of health care interventions<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">PROSPERO: An open registry for all systematic reviews<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">The registries also provide a searchable database of registered reviews. Before starting a systematic review, you should search these databases for any registered reviews on the topic of your choice. This will ensure that you are not duplicating efforts.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"conducting-systematic-review\" style=\"padding-top: 80px; margin-top: -80px;\">What is the best approach to conducting a systematic review?<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">The essence of a systematic review lies in being systematic. A systematic review involves detailed scrutiny and analysis of a huge mass of literature. To ensure that your work is efficient and effective, you should follow a clear process [1]:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Develop a research question<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Define inclusion and exclusion criteria<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Locate studies\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Select studies<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Assess study quality<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Extract data<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Analyze and present results<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Interpret results<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Update the review as needed<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">It is helpful to follow this process and make notes at each stage. This will make it easier for you to write the review article.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"systematic-review-paper-structure\" style=\"padding-top: 80px; margin-top: -80px;\">How is a systematic review article structured?<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">A systematic review article follows the same structure as that of an original research article. It typically includes a title, abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, and references. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3>How to write the title of a systematic review?<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">The title should accurately reflect the topic under review. Typically, the words \u201ca systematic review\u201d are a part of the title to make the nature of the study clear.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">How to write the abstract of a systematic review?<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">A systematic review usually has a structured Abstract, with a short paragraph devoted to each of the following: background, methods, results, and conclusion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>How to write the introduction of a systematic review?<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">The Introduction summarizes the topic and explains why the systematic review was conducted. There might have been gaps in the existing knowledge or a disagreement in the literature that necessitated a review. The introduction should also state the purpose and aims of the review.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>What should be included in the Methods section of a systematic review?<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">The Methods section is the most crucial part of a systematic review article. The methodology followed should be explained clearly and logically. The following components should be discussed in detail:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Inclusion and exclusion criteria<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Identification of studies<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Study selection<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Data extraction<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Quality assessment<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Data analysis<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>How do I describe the results of a systematic review?<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">The Results section should also be explained logically. You can begin by describing the search results, and then move on to the study range and characteristics, study quality, and finally discuss the effect of the intervention on the outcome.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>How to write the Discussion of a systematic review?<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">The Discussion should summarize the main findings from the review and then move on to discuss the limitations of the study and the reliability of the results. Finally, the strengths and weaknesses of the review should be discussed, and implications for current practice suggested.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3>How do I manage references for a systematic review?<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">The References section of a systematic review article usually contains an extensive number of references. You have to be very careful and ensure that you do not miss out on a single one. You can consider using reference management software to help you tackle the references effectively. Or, if you&#8217;re using an AI writing assistant like Paperpal, you can use the <a href=\"https:\/\/paperpal.com\/tools\/citation-generator\">free citation generator<\/a> to get your citations and references formatted automatically across more than 10,000 styles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Key takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>A systematic review is a thorough and detailed review of existing literature on a particular topic, designed to address a specific question.<\/li>\n<li>Systematic reviews are especially important in evidence-based medicine.<\/li>\n<li>A good systematic review begins with a protocol that defines the study design, objectives, and expected outcomes; follows the PRISMA guidelines, and should be registered in a recognized protocol registry.<\/li>\n<li>This article\u00a0covers the basics of how to approach a systematic review and how such a review is typically structured.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Further Reading<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">You might also be interested in reading the following related articles:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/which-is-easier-to-publish-an-original-research-article-or-a-review-article\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Which is easier to publish &#8211; an original research article or a review article?<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/a-young-researchers-guide-to-writing-a-literature-review\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">A young researcher&#8217;s guide to writing a literature review<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/6-article-types-that-journals-publish-a-guide-for-early-career-researchers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">6 Article types that journals publish: A guide for early career researchers<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14.6667px;\">Reference<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>1. Five steps to conducting a systematic review https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC539417\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is a systematic review? Types of systematic reviews Writing a protocol What is the best approach to conducting a systematic review? How is a systematic review article structured? What is a systematic review? A systematic review is a highly rigorous review of existing literature that addresses a clearly formulated question. The review systematically searches, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":45215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2417],"tags":[2605,2582,1085],"new_categories":[],"new_tags":[],"series":[2824],"class_list":["post-829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-planning-to-write","tag-academic-writing","tag-journal-article-types","tag-review-article","series-types-of-articles-a-guide-for-young-researchers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Systematic Reviews: How to Write Them | Editage Insights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn the basics of systematic reviews with this practical guide for early-career researchers, covering methods, screening, and reporting in this article.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/a-young-researchers-guide-to-a-systematic-review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is a systematic review and how to write a systematic review | Editage Insights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This article discusses what is systematic review and its types, systematic review protocol and its registration, and the best approach to conducting and writing a systematic review. 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