Key Features and Limitations

Key Features of a systematic review:

• A clearly stated objective or review question
• Predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria for studies
• Transparent, reproducible methodology
• A systematic search for studies meeting the inclusion criteria
• Quality assessment of the studies located, including risk of bias assessment
• A synthesis of the findings from the studies
• Interpretation or evaluation of the results emerging from the synthesis

Some limitations to consider when thinking of conducting a systematic review:

• Systematic reviews require a considerable amount of time and a team of participants
• There must be an existing body of primary literature covering the research question
• The reporting quality of previous systematic review methods may vary
• Databases and other resources used to conduct literature searching may be limited by institutional access