Biology 6080: Research Guide: Systematic Reviews

What is a Systematic Review?

Systematic review attempts to identify, appraise and synthesize all the empirical evidence that meets pre-specified eligibility criteria to answer a specific research question. Researchers conducting systematic reviews use explicit, systematic methods that are selected with a view aimed at minimizing bias, to produce more reliable findings to inform decision making.

A systematic review looks at all the existing research for a given question. Systematic reviews can be used to establish the state of existing knowledge and are frequently used in funder guideline development. Systematic reviews originated in medicine and the health sciences, but are becoming more and more prevalent across disciplines. 

Finding Systematic Reviews and Literature Reviews in PubMed

• Go to www.aum.edu/library
• Click on the "Databases" tab and then click the letter "P", scroll down to PubMed link
• Run your search in PubMed, keeping your search terms relatively broad
• Along the left-hand side of the screen you will see a list of Filters. Under “Article Types” click “ Systematic Review" and "Review"
• At the top of the screen, an information icon telling you limits have been applied will appear
• You can further limit results by using the limiters on the left-hand side of the page (date, full-text, etc.)