The University Library's systematic review service aims to support medical and human sciences postgraduate students who need to conduct a systematic review as part of their studies. We can offer feedback and guidance at different stages of your research on:
If you have any queries about this service please email:
A systematic review is a tightly structured literature review that focuses on a topic with strict research parameters. The methodology used to collect research has to be consistent in order to reduce misinterpretation and misrepresentation of the data.
To help you understand and conduct your systematic review we have produced a number of posts to help you:
You can access these and more from the Specialist Library Support online resources page.
If you are unsure of the range of resources that are available for your subject, have a look at the subject guide for your school, and also explore the guides for related disciplines. These contain details of the main resources commonly used by those subjects; the database sections give a summary of the research areas those databases cover. You may come across other resources you may not have previously thought of!
Explore the Specialist Library Support workshops and online resources. Many of these will provide useful building blocks from getting you started to developing your research techniques further.
When contacting us include as much detail as possible about your searches and preparatory work for the review so that we are better prepared and more able to help you.
A systematic literature search is a literature review on a database (such as Medline) which demonstrates that you have compiled a list of appropriate search terms and includes the structure of your search history which provides the evidence on which your assignment is based.
This is a less rigorous process than a systematic review. A systematic review usually covers a wider scope; you would be expected to look at all the available research in the area in question. For example, you would be expected to visit the Library if articles were only held in hard copy format, and where necessary obtain articles not held by the Library via Order Services.
You may be told that you need to conduct a systematic review when in fact you just need to perform a literature search in a systematic manner.