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Systematic & Literature Reviews

A guide to resources for information about systematic and literature reviews.

Systematic Review vs. Literature Review: What is the Difference?

Similarities and differences between systematic and literature reviews.

  Systematic Review Literature Review
Definition High-level overview of primary research on a focused question that identifies, selects, synthesizes, and appraises all high quality research evidence relevant to that question.  Qualitatively summarizes evidence on a topic using informal or subjective methods to collect and interpret studies. 
Goals

Answer a focused clinical question
Eliminate bias

Provide summary or overview of topic
Question

Clearly defined and answerable clinical question
Recommend using PICO as a guide

Can be a general topic or a specific question
Components Pre-specified eligibility criteria
Systematic search strategy
Assessment of the validity of findings
Interpretation and presentation of results
Reference list

Introduction
Methods
Discussion
Conclusion
Reference list

Number of Authors Three or more One or more
Timeline Months to years
Average eighteen months
Weeks to months
Requirements Thorough knowledge of topic
Perform searches of all relevant databases
Statistical analysis resources (for meta-analysis)
Understanding of topic
Perform searches of one or more databases
Value Connects practicing clinicians to high quality evidence
Supports evidence-based practice
Provides summary of literature on a topic

Kysh, L. (2013). Difference between a systematic review and a literature review (Version 1). figshare. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.766364.v1

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