LibGuides: Resources for Conducting a Systematic Review: Home

Databases & Resources for Literature Searches

Biomedical Literature:

EMBase This link opens in a new window
European-based database with journal articles and other biomedical literature from an international perspective. It includes comprehensive coverage of biomedical information with an emphasis on drugs and pharmacology. Covers all journals in Medline and unique journals not included in Medline.
Cochrane Library This link opens in a new window
This is a collection of databases that contain evidence for healthcare decision-making. Includes systematic review abstracts, technology assessments, economic evaluations and individual clinical trials.
PubMed (MEDLINE) This link opens in a new window
MEDLINE is the National Library of Medicine's free bibliographic database covering the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and the preclinical sciences.

Discipline / Subject Specific:

CINAHL Complete This link opens in a new window
A full-text database for nursing and allied health journals from 1937 to the present. It includes access to scholarly journal articles, dissertations, magazines, pamphlets, evidence-based care sheets, books, and research instruments.
ERIC This link opens in a new window
The authoritative index for education research sources including government reports, journal articles, and conference papers. Covers all education topic areas and is sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education.
PsychiatryOnline This link opens in a new window
Full-text access to books, journals and guidelines from the American Psychiatric Association, including the DSM Library, APPI journals and ebooks, treatment guidelines, and patient info.
PsycINFO This link opens in a new window
This database provides indexing and abstracts for journal articles, books, chapters, and dissertations in psychology. Covers the research literature in all areas of psychology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Other subjects such as neuroscience, psychiatry, and physiology are also included.
Social Work Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Provides indexing and abstracts for journals dealing with all aspects of the social work field, including theory and practice, areas of service and social issues and problems.

Multidisciplinary Databases:

Scopus This link opens in a new window
Scopus is an abstract and citation database that supports research needs in the scientific, technical, medical, social sciences, and the arts and humanities. It provides tools for tracking citations, creating researcher profiles, and visualizing search results.
Web of Science This link opens in a new window
Provides access to the Arts & Humanities Index (A&HCI), Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Science Citation Index (SCI), and Social Science Citation Index (SSCI). The database can be searched by words in article titles and abstracts, by author, by journal, and to look for cited references.

Clinical Trials & Research Registers:

ClinicalTrials.gov / NIH
A registry and results database of publicly and privately supported clinical studies of human participants conducted around the world.
Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) / Cochrane Library
The European Union Clinical Trails Register
ISRCTN
A simple numeric system for the unique identification of randomized controlled trails worldwide.

Dissertations & Theses:

Dissertations and Theses This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses from around the world. It includes materials from 1861 to the present day.
Dissertations and Theses @ OU This link opens in a new window
Provides full text access to Oakland University dissertations and theses.

EThOS
Open access to UK's doctoral research theses.

Grey Literature (not formerly published in sources such as books or journal articles):

Grey Literature Report
A bimonthly publication of the New York Academy of Medicine alerting readers to new grey literature publications in health services research and selected public health topics.

Search Filters / Hedges

PubMed Search Strategies Blog
Search Filters Resource
Filters built in several online databases (e.g., MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and EMBASE)
PRISMA for Searching

Learning about Systematic Reviews

Journal Articles:

Selected journal articles on conducting a systematic review / meta-analysis - from PubMed

eBooks:

Finding What Works in Health Care: Standards and Systematic Reviews by Jill Eden (Editor); Laura Levit (Editor); Alfred Berg (Editor); Sally Morton (Editor); Committee on Standards for Systematic Reviews of Comparative Effectiveness Research; Institute of Medicine; Board on Health Care Services Staff
ISBN: 9780309164252
Publication Date: 2011
Systematic Reviews in Health Care, 2nd edition by Matthias Egger (Editor); George Davey Smith (Editor); Douglas Altman (Editor)
ISBN: 9780727914880
Publication Date: 2001
Synthesizing Qualitative Research: Choosing the Right Approach by Karin Hannes; Craig Lockwood
ISBN: 9780470656389
Publication Date: 2012
Advances in Meta-Analysis by Terri Pigott
ISBN: 9781489993656
Publication Date: 2014
Systematic Reviews by Carole Torgerson
ISBN: 9780826465801
Publication Date: 2003

Print Books (3rd floor, Kresge Library):

Introduction to Meta-Analysis by Larry V. Hedges; Julian P. T. Higgins; Hannah R. Rothstein; Michael Borenstein
Call Number: R 853 .M48 I58 2009
ISBN: 9780470057247
Publication Date: 2009
The Handbook of Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis by Harris Cooper (Editor); Larry V. Hedges (Editor); Jeffrey C. Valentine (Editor)
Call Number: H 62 .C585 2010
ISBN: 9780871541635
Publication Date: 2010
Finding What Works in Health Care by Jill Eden (Editor); Laura Levit (Editor); Alfred Berg (Editor); Sally Morton (Editor); Committee on Standards for Systematic Reviews of Comparative Effectiveness Research; Institute of Medicine; Board on Health Care Services Staff
Call Number: RA 399 .A3 I565 2011
ISBN: 9780309164252
Publication Date: 2011
Systematic Reviews in Health Care, 2nd edition by Matthias Egger (Editor); George Davey Smith (Editor); Douglas Altman (Editor)
Call Number: R 853 .S94 S94 2001
ISBN: 9780727914880
Publication Date: 2001
Systematic Reviews in Health Care: A Practical Guide by Paul Glasziou; Chris Bain; Graham Colditz; Les Irwig
Call Number: R 853 .S94 S94 2001
ISBN: 9780521799621
Publication Date: 2001
Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis by Julia H. Littell; Jacqueline Corcoran; Vijayan Pillai
Call Number: H 62 .L497 2008
ISBN: 9780195326543
Publication Date: 2008
Meta-Study of Qualitative Health Research: A Practical Guide to Meta-Analysis and Meta-Synthesis by Barbara L. Paterson; Sally E. Thorne; Connie Canam; Carol Jillings
Call Number: R 853 .M48 M47 2001
ISBN: 9780761924142
Publication Date: 2001
Methods for Meta-Analysis in Medical Research by David R. Jones; Trevor A. Sheldon; Fujian Song; Alexander J. Sutton; Keith R. Abrams
Call Number: RM 853 .M48 M48 2000
ISBN: 9780471490661
Publication Date: 2000

Guidelines for Conducting Systematic Reviews

PRISMA for Searching
The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (including PRISMA Checklist, PRISMA 2020 flow diagram, PRISMA Statement)
Extensions of the PRISMA Statement
Including PRISMA for Abstracts, Protocols, Scoping Reviews, Searching, etc.

Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions, 2nd edition by Julian P. T. Higgins (Editor); James Thomas (Editor); Jacqueline Chandler (Associate Editor); Miranda Cumpston (Associate Editor); Tianjing Li (Associate Editor); Matthew J. Page (Associate Editor); Vivian A. Welch (Associate Editor)
ISBN: 9781119536628
Publication Date: 2019

Protocol Registration

Covidence

Covidence is a web-based software program for managing and streamlining systematic reviews (screening and data extraction).

Instructions: The link contains a one-time use 'Accept this invitation' button that will send you to a login page. Please check your spam folder if the email doesn't arrive in a few minutes. From there, you simply need to sign in or sign up for a Covidence account. You'll then be automatically linked to the organizational subscription and will need to login via https://app.covidence.org/sign_in going forward instead of the invitation link in the email.

Getting Started with Covidence - Video

Resources for Conducting a Systematic Review

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