The Project Planner from SAGE Research Methods is a great resource to help you plan and execute research projects.
| The standards and guides below describe the process of conducting systematic reviews and other syntheses to help you plan and execute your review. |
Reviews conducted under the auspices of international evidence synthesis collaborations (i.e. Cochrane, JBI, the Campbell Collaboration, and the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence) follow the highest standards for planning, executing and reporting this type of research. Even if you are not conducting a review for one of these organizations, you may still find it valuable to review their guidance documents.
The PRISMA website provides guidelines for transparent reporting of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. The PRISMA Checklist presents the preferred layout of systematic reviews and may be helpful to refer to in the planning stages.
Finding what works in healthcare: standards for systematic reviews. The IOM recommends 21 standards for developing high-quality systematic reviews of comparative effectiveness research. The standards address the entire systematic review process from the initial steps of formulating the topic and building the review team to producing a detailed final report.
The consensus statement from the Meta-analysis Of Observation Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) group proposes a checklist with specifications for reporting.
Principles and Practice of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis by 
Systematic Reviews in Educational Research: Methodology, Perspectives and Application by 
Handbook of Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis
Doing a systematic review: a student's guide by 
Systematic approaches to a successful literature review by 
Systematic reviews to answer health care questions by 
Methods of meta-analysis by 
AHRQ methods guide for effectiveness and comparative effectiveness reviews by 
Systematic synthesis of qualitative research. by 
How to Do a Systematic Literature Review in Nursing by 
Frameworks for determining research gaps during systematic reviews by 
Systematic reviews: CRD's guidance for undertaking reviews in health care by 
Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions (version 6.-) by 
Guidelines and Standards for Evidence Synthesis in Environmental Management by 
JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis
Methodological Expectations of Cochrane Intervention Reviews (MECIR) by 
Searching for Studies: A Guide to Information Retrieval for Campbell Systematic Reviews - Campbell Methods Guide by Choi, A. R., Cheng, D. L., Greenberg, P. B., Choi, A. R., Cheng, D. L., & Greenberg, P. B. (2018). Twelve tips for medical students to conduct a systematic review. Medical Teacher, 0(0), 1–5.
Khan, K. S., Kunz, R., Kleijnen, J., & Antes, G. (2003). Five steps to conducting a systematic review. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 96(3), 118-121.
Liberati, A., Altman, D. G., Tetzlaff, J., Mulrow, C., Gøtzsche, P. C., Ioannidis, J. P., Clarke, M., Devereaux, J. K. & Moher, D. (2009). The PRISMA statement for reporting systematic reviews and meta-analyses of studies that evaluate health care interventions: explanation and elaboration. Annals of Internal Medicine, 151(4), W-65. (Note that in order to encourage dissemination of the PRISMA Statement, it has been published in several journals).
Lodge M. (2011). Conducting a systematic review: finding the evidence. Journal of Evidence-based Medicine, 4, 135-9.
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., & Altman, D. G. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA statement. Annals of Internal Medicine, 151(4), 264-269. (Note that in order to encourage dissemination of the PRISMA Statement, it has been published in several journals).
Moola S, Munn Z, Sears K, et al. Conducting systematic reviews of association (etiology): The Joanna Briggs Institute’s approach. Int J Evid Based Healthc. 2015;13(3):163-169.
Riesenberg L.A. & Justice E.M. (2014). Conducting a successful systematic review of the literature, part 1. Nursing, 44(4), 13-7.
Riesenberg L.A. & Justice E.M. (2014). Conducting a successful systematic review of the literature, part 2. Nursing, 44, 23-6.
