Research Guides: Evidence Syntheses and Systematic Reviews: Choosing a Review

Which Review is Right for You?

When choosing the type of review to do, there are couple of questions, and issues to keep in mind. Some of these questions are:

The decision tree below will help guide you, based on the answers to the questions asked, in deciding on the type of review you need.

This work was modified by work created by Cornell University Library and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Right Review
An interactive tool that helps you decide what type of review methodology matches your goals and time frame. Although it focuses on the health sciences, other disciplines may find it useful.
A typology of reviews: an analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies
Describes the most common types of reviews and associated methodologies.
How to Do a Systematic Review: A Best Practice Guide for Conducting and Reporting Narrative Reviews, Meta-Analyses, and Meta-Syntheses
How to plan, conduct, organize, and present a systematic review of quantitative (meta-analysis) or qualitative (narrative review, meta-synthesis) information. Outlines core standards and principles, and commonly encountered problems.

Campbell Collaboration
"Promotes positive social and economic change through the production and use of systematic reviews and other evidence synthesis for evidence-based policy and practice." Disciplines: Business and Management, Crime and Justice, Disability, Education, International Development, Knowledge Translation and Implementation, Methods, Nutrition, and Social Welfare.
Systematic Reviews in Educational Research Methodology, Perspectives and Application
International researchers in the field discuss the systematic review method in its application to research in education.

The Collaboration for Environmental Evidence
Guidelines and standards for evidence synthesis in environmental management from scientists and managers working towards a sustainable global environment and the conservation of biodiversity.

The Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre (EPPI-Centre)
Conducts systematic reviews in the fields of Education, Health Promotion and Public Health, as well as social welfare and international development.
Guidelines for Systematic Reviews of Health Promotion and Public Health Interventions
Guidelines that support systematic reviews of health promotion and public health interventions within the Cochrane Collaboration.