Systematic Reviews & Evidence Synthesis

According to the Cochrane Collaboration, a systematic review is a comprehensive literature review that attempts to “identify, appraise and synthesize all the empirical evidence that meets pre-specified eligibility criteria to answer a specific research question.”  Systematic reviews synthesize the results of primary research on a given topic, extracting and interpreting data from selected studies while using explicit methods and strategies that reduce bias. Overall, due to the methods and reduction of bias, in the hierarchy of scientific evidence, systematic reviews are considered to be the strongest form of evidence.