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Knowledge Synthesis: Systematic, Scoping & Other Reviews

Need Help with a Review?

UBC Library offers a Knowledge Synthesis Service with two levels of support - a consultation and instruction level, and a collaboration and co-authorship level. Learn more and request a consultation through our Knowledge Synthesis Service.

Knowledge synthesis workshops are offered regularly - please check the events calendar for the next offering, or view recordings and slides.

Before you start

Checklist

Knowledge syntheses require:

  • a team
  • a significant amount of time to complete
  • adherence to transparent and rigorous methods
  • a strong project management component
  • commitment, clear and open communication among all team members
  • patience to get through the learning curve of the process

Read a comprehensive Readiness Checklist provided by Unity Health Toronto. 

Choosing a review that is right for you

What Type of Review is Right for You? © Cornell University Library, CC BY 4.0.

 

Types of Reviews and Guidelines for Conducting and Reporting

Systematic Reviews

A systematic review uses guidelines to systematically search for, evaluate, and synthesize the entire body of evidence on a particular topic (Grant & Booth, 2009). This can be very time intensive (up to 18 months, by some estimates). Other review methods may be more appropriate for you if you have limited time, or are working alone. The PredicTER tool can give you an estimate of how much time may be needed for your review.

Health:

Social Sciences and Education:

Environmental Evidence:

Scoping Reviews

Rather than assessing a body of knowledge, scoping reviews aim to determine the potential size of a body of research on a topic, and omit critical appraisal of included studies (Grant & Booth, 2009).

Rapid Reviews

Rapid review is a type of systematic review which limits the duration of the review to fit within a stakeholder's time frame (Grant & Booth, 2009).

Overview (Umbrella) of Reviews

Overviews of reviews gather and assess existing systematic reviews on a topic (Grant & Booth, 2009). They may also be called umbrella reviews, reviews of reviews, or metasyntheses.

Click here to download the checklist as a PDF.

Realist Reviews

This type of review, also called a realist synthesis, is a method for studying complex interventions in response to the perceived limitations of conventional systematic review methodology (Pawson et al. 2005). 

Narrative Literature Reviews

Literature reviews answer the question "What do we know about _?". It's a synthesis of theories and approaches to a problem or topic. They may vary by discipline and topic and may include primary sources (e.g. archival materials, datasets), as well as monographs, journal articles and proceedings.

For more information, please see UBC Library's Literature Review Guide.

Other

If there are no guidelines for a field of study, consult PRISMA:

Consider adapting and selecting the appropriate review type for your study.

Overview of Evidence Synthesis Steps

Good planning can save immense amounts of time when completing an evidence synthesis.

First steps include:

  1. Check whether a review has already been completed on your topic
  2. Write and register a protocol which includes:
  • Research question
  • Eligibility criteria and key definitions
  • Draft search strategy
  • Approach to data extraction and synthesis
  1. Searches run in databases (including grey literature databases if appropriate)
  2. Hand searching journals and websites (if appropriate)
  3. Export all results to Covidence
  4. De-duplicate results in Covidence - verifying duplicates found
  1. Screen title and abstracts against eligibility criteria - minimum of 2 reviewers
  2. Download full-text for remaining studies
  3. Screen full-text against eligibility criteria - minimum of 2 reviewers
    • Note exclusion reasons
  4. Critically appraise remaining studies for risk of bias (for systematic reviews, not applicable to scoping reviews)
    • Use the tool appropriate for the type of research being analyzed (e.g. RCT, qualitative, etc.)
  1. Extract data from the included studies based on predetermined criteria
    • E.g. author, title, publication year, age of participants, application to inclusion criteria, type of intervention used
  2. Thematically categorize qualitative data or visually display quantitative data
  1. Write your review using appropriate reporting guidelines (e.g. PRISMA) - ensure all elements are documented and discussed
  2. Append search strategies and any other documentation that will allow the reader to see a transparent methodology for your review

Related UBC Library Guides

  • Publishing a Journal Article guide provides information on how to select a journal to submit your research.
  • Literature Review guide is designed for students preparing an honour's thesis, graduating paper, Master's thesis or doctoral dissertation. 
  • Covidence guide. UBC Library's guidance on accessing and using Covidence for your review. The Library has a subscription to Covidence and all affiliated students, faculty and staff have access to this tool.