Learning Resource Center: Systematic Reviews: Resources

Reporting Standards & Checklists

CONSORT–Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials: Evidence-based, minimum recommendations for reporting RCTs; 25-item checklist.

PRISMA–Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: Evidence-based minimum set of items for reporting in systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

See also, NLM's Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives – A comprehensive chart of major biomedical research reporting guidelines.

Systematic Review Software

Rayyan
A free web application for systematic review authors to organize and review citations.

DistillerSR – A web-based program designed specifically for the screening and data extraction phases of a systematic review.
EPPI-Reviewer 4 – EPPI-Centre’s web-based software for managing and analyzing data in literature reviews. Developed for all types of systematic reviews.
Cochrane's RevMan (Review Manager) – Software is used for preparing and maintaining Cochrane Reviews. Available free for Cochrane Reviews or purely academic use. Otherwise, must purchase a license.
SRDR (Systematic Review Data Repository) – A web-based tool, available from AHRQ, for conducting systematic reviews and meta-analysis. Contains an open and searchable archive of systematic reviews and data.

Covidence LibGuide
Covidence is a cloud-based tool for screening and managing references as part of systematic reviews. It was developed in partnership with the Cochrane Collaboration and in 2015 adopted as the standard production platform for use when conducting Cochrane Reviews. USUHS has an enterprise license for this resource.

Guides and Standards

It is recommended that you consult the publisher's "author instructions" on systematic review submissions as part of your initial step in beginning the process. Publisher's may require your systematic review follow a specific guideline or reporting standard.

AHRQ's Methods Guides

Medical Test Reviews -- This guide provides instruction in preparing, conducting, and using systematic reviews of medical tests.
Effectiveness and Comparative Effectiveness Reviews -- This guide is intended as a resource for investigators interested in conducting Comparative Effectiveness Reviews.

Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions -- Cochrane's official document that describes the process of preparing and maintaining Cochrane systematic reviews on the effects of healthcare interventions.

Institute of Medicine's Standards for Systematic Reviews -- Addresses the entire systematic review process, from locating, screening, and selecting studies for the review, to synthesizing the findings (including meta-analysis) and assessing the overall quality of the body of evidence, to producing the final review report.