Transcript: Systematic Reviews

Rachael Posey, Pharmacy Librarian, discusses systematic reviews.

Hi, I’m Rachael Posey, librarian liaison to the Eshelman School of Pharmacy here at the Health Sciences Library.

Today I’m going to talk to you about systematic reviews and systematic review services that we provide at the Health Sciences Library

What is a systematic review?

A systematic review is a research study that attempts to gather all of the empirical evidence that fits a series of pre-specified eligibility criteria in order to answer a specific research question.

It uses specific methods that are selected with a view to minimizing bias thus providing more reliable findings from which conclusions can be drawn and decisions made.

Because systematic reviews require a rigorous methodology, they can demand a lot of time and energy from researchers who would like to conduct one.

The library has developed several tools and services to make this process easier for researchers and to help ensure that your review is rigorous and based on sound methodology.

First we have a guide that will walk you through the steps of conducting a systematic review and point you to tools that will come in handy while conducting your review. To get to our systematic review guide from the main library page go to resources and select guides.

From here, you can scroll down to our systematic reviews subject and select the systematic reviews guide.

This guide contains the basic information, you’ll need to get started, instructions on conducting a systematic review, and a list of services that our librarians can provide for your systematic reviews.

We also provide links to additional tools and resources that can help you conduct and publish your systematic review.

In addition to our online resources, the library also offers a two class series on conducting systematic reviews where we discuss the basics of how systematic reviews are created and walk you through the steps you will need to complete one.

To register for a class, go to using the library and select register for a class.

From here you can select the class you would like to register for. If you have questions about a specific review, we also provide one-on-one consultations in which a librarian can work with you on formulating your literature search and discuss additional services that we can provide for your review.

To request a consult, go to Ask a Librarian and fill out the form on the left making sure you include information about your systematic review questions, your contact information, and the hours when you are available to meet.