- Last Updated: Aug 8, 2024 1:05 PM
- URL: https://guides.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/systematic-review-service
Working on a systematic review? Librarians at Himmelfarb are available to help you!
A 2015 study noted that systematic reviews conducted with librarian or information specialist co-authors were more likely to achieve key quality measures in search strategy, documentation, and reproducibility. [1]
The first step is to determine what type of review is best for your project. This chart describes the differences between the two most common categories of literature searches - literature/narrative reviews and systematic reviews:
| Literature Review / Narrative Review | Systematic Review |
|---|---|
| Provide an overview of a topic | Answer a specific question by summarizing all available data |
| Conclusions are typically presented in the form of a discussion | Conclusions can be presented in a narrative and/or statistical format |
| Methodologies are not described; no effort is made to account for/correct the author's own biases | Performed according to a pre-defined protocol; minimization of bias is addressed throughout |
| Typically completed in weeks/months | Typically completed in months/years |
| Does not typically attempt to evaluate the quality of the included evidence | Often includes an evaluation of the quality of included evidence based on pre-defined tools |
| Can be produced by a single author | Needs to include more than one author to minimize bias |
Himmelfarb Library can help you regardless of the type of review that you decide to do. To be connected with a Himmelfarb librarian, please email a description of your project to himmelfarb@gwu.edu.
For systematic reviews, Himmelfarb Library provides two general levels of service. While Himmelfarb will continue to provide a free consultative service to our users, more substantive contributions by librarians will now be offered as a fee-based service.
| Consultation | Full-Service |
|---|---|
| Provide guidance on overall SR process | Provide guidance on overall SR process |
| Provide guidance on PRISMA reporting requirements | Provide guidance on PRISMA reporting requirements |
| Give instruction on where to find SR protocols | Give instruction on where to find SR protocols |
| Give guidance on identifying relevant existing SR protocols | Identify relevant existing SR protocols |
| Give guidance on identifying existing SR on same topic | Identify relevant existing SR on same topic |
| Assist in developing PICO/PICOTS question | Assist in developing PICO/PICOTS question |
| Give guidance in determining relevant databases to search | Give guidance in determining relevant databases to search |
| Guide the construction of an appropriate search strategy | Construct appropriate search strategy $ |
| Guide the translation of search strategy into other databases | Translate search strategy into other databases $ |
| Give instruction on executing the search | Execute the search $ |
| Give guidance on exporting results into Covidence | Export results into Covidence and assist with finding/uploading full text $ |
| Advise on documentation of search strategies, results, PRISMA diagrams, etc. | Assist with documentation of search strategies, results, PRISMA diagrams, etc. Write the literature search portion of the 'Methods' section $ |
| Free - Himmelfarb does not charge for this level of service |
$ Fee-based - due to the librarian time required, Himmelfarb charges for full involvement in specific aspects of the systematic review process. Estimates will be developed for specific projects and charges will include only time spent on project. For pricing details, please email Tom Harrod (tph@gwu.edu) |
Please note that the above table defines two typical levels of service - however, you and your project librarian will develop a set of mutual expectations based on the circumstances of your project.
When collaborating a systematic review project, librarians prefer:
More detailed information about how to conduct a systematic review can be found on our Systematic Reviews Research Guide.
For further information or to request librarian assistance with a systematic review, please contact either your liaison librarian or the Reference and Instruction department (himmelfarb@gwu.edu or 202-994-2962).
References:
1) Rethlefsen, M.L., Farrell, A.M., Osterhaus Trzasko, L.C., & Brigham, T.J. (2015). Librarian co-authors correlated with higher quality reported search strategies in general internal medicine systematic reviews. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 68(6), 617-26. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2014.11.025. [Find full text]
