Are you planning to conduct a systematic review? Collaborate with a librarian!

Librarians at the HS/HSL are experts in conducting comprehensive literature searches as part of the systematic review process.

After the initial consultation, in which the project's aims and scope are discussed, the librarian typically:

• Determines if an existing systematic review has already answered your research question
• Decides which sources to search (e.g. databases, grey literature)
• Collaborates with researchers to develop appropriate search strategies to ensure that all relevant studies are identified
• Conducts the literature search and removes duplicate records
• Delivers search results
• Writes the search methodology for your manuscript
• Re-runs the literature search, as needed

Librarians keep detailed records throughout the process to ensure transparency.

It's important to engage a librarian in the early stages of your review. Developing and processing database search strategies may take one month or longer.

Schedule a systematic review consultation here. Please be prepared to share your systematic review protocol and discuss the information contained in the Preparing for a Systematic Review handout.