University Library News

Georgia State University Library

Supporting Systematic Reviews at the Library

In response to increased interest from the university community, especially from faculty and students in areas of the health sciences, the GSU Library is excited to share our resources for systematic review projects

Systematic reviews are a type of research that uses the data gathered through multiple studies to get a better understanding of the efficacy of an intervention across populations. Systematic reviews are most common in health science and related fields and are growing in use in more fields, including education, business, and public policy.  Interested in finding more examples? Take a look at the Cochrane Library, focused on for medical systematic reviews, or take a look in a database for your discipline, and try a search for “systematic review”.

The first step is often the hardest – how to even get started? The Library recommends the resources available in our LibGuide and from professional organizations to make a game plan and register your protocol: 

Where will you save and organize the sources you find? Citation management software can help! 

What about the screening process for all those sources? 

Our subject librarians are available to assist with guidance in planning and registering your review protocol, dialing in your best search strategies and databases to explore, training on citation management and screening software, and more. Several of them have taken training focused on effectively supporting systematic reviews, in the health sciences and beyond. Happy researching!