title: A practical overview of how to conduct a systematic review.
abstract: With an increasing focus on evidence-based practice in health care, it is important that nurses understand the principles underlying systematic reviews. Systematic reviews are used in healthcare to present a comprehensive, policy-neutral, transparent and reproducible synthesis of evidence. This article provides a practical overview of the process of undertaking systematic reviews, explaining the rationale for each stage. It provides guidance on the standard methods applicable to every systematic review: writing and registering a protocol; planning a review; searching and selecting studies; data collection; assessing the risk of bias; and interpreting results.
authors.affiliation: Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, England.
authors.forename: Dilla
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Davis
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D015400:Clinical Nursing Research / Q000379:methods; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D012107:Research Design; D006113:United Kingdom; D000078202:Systematic Reviews as Topic
keywords: evidence-based practice; healthcare research; literature review; research; review; systematic literature review; systematic review