PRISMA: Transparent reporting of Systematic Reviews and Meta Analyses |
PRISMA stands for Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. It consists of an evidence-based minimum set of items that should be reported when conducting a systematic review or meta-analysis. It is common for medical journals to require that authors submitting systematic reviews for publication follow the PRISMA guidelines.
The PRISMA 2020 Statement was published in 2021.
Resources on Methodology |
Additional guidance on how to carry out a systematic review. It's a good idea to familiarize yourself with some of these recommendations so you'll know what is expected before you begin.
Not all systematic reviews are Cochrane reviews, but the Cochrane Handbook provides helpful information on general methods. Version 6.2, updated 2021. The handbook can be read online free of charge.
Muka T, Glisic M, Milic J, et al. Eur J Epidemiol. 2020;35(1):49-60. doi:10.1007/s10654-019-00576-5
Writing the Protocol |
Depending on who is publishing or funding the systematic review, the inclusion of a protocol may or may not be standard practice. The protocol is the plan of what will be included in the systematic review and how each step of the review will be carried out. The protocol is developed and made public at the start of the project in order to minimize bias, provide transparency to the methods, and reduces the potential for duplication.
Standards 2.6-2.8 of the Institute of Medicine's "Standards for Systematic Reviews" describes the protocol process:
STANDARD 2.6: Develop a systematic review protocol
STANDARD 2.7: Submit the protocol for peer review
STANDARD 2.8: Make the final protocol publicly available, and add any amendments to the protocol in a timely fashion
Protocol Registries:
Additional reading:
Chang and Slutsky Systematic Reviews 2012, 1:4
Open access article
Modified with permission from https://henryford.libguides.com/sr
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