Systematic reviews summarize and evaluate information that can help in decision-making. Whereas review articles are generally an examination of the literature from the author’s perspective, a systematic review can be thought of as a study design that includes some or all of the following:
- One or more questions or hypotheses are posed at the start of the review.
- Publication/study results in the subject area are collected are sometimes limited to a particular type (e.g., literature reviews, randomized controlled trials) and are often obtained from specific sources (e.g., databases, bibliographies).
- Data extracted from the selected studies are combined and compared, or if the data cannot be combined, the strength of the evidence is assessed and used to evaluate results.
- Conclusions are made based on results and/or the presence or absence of supporting evidence.
- Often a systematic review will include a meta-analysis.
The systematic filter in PubMed retrieves citations to other articles of interest to health professionals such as reviews of clinical trials, evidence-based medicine, consensus development conferences, guidelines, and citations to articles from journals specializing in clinical review studies.
An example of a systematic review:
Phillips KA, Veenstra DL, Oren R, Lee JK, Sadee W. Potential role of pharmacogenomics in reducing adverse drug reactions: a systematic review. JAMA. 2001 Nov 14;286(18):2270-9.
How to access the systematic review filter in PubMed.
- Go to JEFFLINE (http://jeffline.jefferson.edu)
- Under the Library tab, select Databases
- Click on link to PubMed through JEFFLINE
- On the left-hand side under PubMed Services select Clinical Queries
- Select Systematic Reviews
- Enter search terms
Another method is to use the systematic filter within PubMed.
For example: diabetic retinopathy AND systematic [sb]
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