Evidence Synthesis and Systematic Review

Beginning your evidence synthesis process with a search for existing reviews related to your research question can be highly beneficial. These reviews provide valuable models, offering effective methodologies, recommended search strategies, and essential resources to guide your own literature review. By examining these syntheses, you can identify gaps in the literature and enhance the rigor of your research. Below are links to databases of evidence syntheses and related documents for health and policy-making areas.

• Campbell Collaboration - Registry of Systematic Reviews

  - focuses on social policy and the social sciences. 

• CINAHL Complete
  -  allows limit search results to meta-synthesis and evidence-based practice.

• Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR)
  - includes Cochrane reviews (systematic reviews) and protocols for Cochrane reviews as well as editorials and supplements.

• Embase
  - allows limit search results to systematic review, meta-analysis, etc.

• Health Evidence
  -  includes quality-appraisals on peer reviewed, published evidence syntheses evaluating the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of public health interventions.

• JBI Evidence Synthesis
  - publishes systematic and scoping review protocols, diverse types of systematic reviews, and scoping reviews covering multi-disciplinary healthcare-related topics that follow methodology and methods developed by JBI. 

• TRIP Database

  - provides access over 125 million clinical articles, systematic reviews, and medical guidelines.

• PROSPERO - Registry of Systematic Reviews
  - includes records of over 327,000 prospectively registered systematic reviews with health related outcomes.

• PubMed
  - allows limit search results to systematic review, meta-analysis, clinical trial, etc..

The publication of a systematic review does not necessarily indicate that it is rigorous, reproducible, or exhaustive. There are various criteria to assess the quality of an evidence synthesis. Below are some commonly used tools for this assessment.

• AMSTAR: Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews

• CASP: Critical Appraisal Skills Program

• GRADE: Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation

• JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist

• PRISMA: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses

• ROBIS: Risk of Bias in Systematic Reviews