We are currently unable to accept new requests for assistance with systematic reviews and other types of evidence syntheses. This pause does not affect projects already in progress. We hope to resume this service in January 2026. If you have questions or feedback about the service or pause, please submit this form https://forms.office.com/r/c1c4Er7Aey.
Key Characteristics of a Systematic Review:
- a clearly stated set of objectives with an explicit, reproducible methodology;
- a systematic search that attempts to identify all studies that would meet the eligibility criteria;
- an assessment of the validity of the findings of the included studies, for example through the assessment of risk bias; and
- a systematic presentation, and synthesis, of the characteristics and findings of the included studies.
Roles of Librarians in Systematic Reviews
Level 1: Consultant
- Three or fewer consultations
- Advise on databases and keywords
- Suggest tools and resources
- Acknowledgement may be required dependent upon extent of consultation
Level 2: Collaborator
- Co-authorship required
- May include several consultations with research team
- Advise on review type, citation management, and protocol registration & development
- Develop & run search strategies, assist with document retrieval
- Writing the methods section of final manuscript
Please note:
Studies show that librarian involvement in systematic reviews improves the quality and reproducibility of the literature search (Rethlefsen et al., 2015).
- It is recommended that you ask for librarian involvement early on in the process.
- Developing and running search strategies may take a month or longer.
- There may be a waitlist for librarian assistance.
- Please contact us well in advance of any deadlines so that we may coordinate librarian workloads.
So you want to do a literature or systematic review?
Choosing the Right Methodology: Which is Right for You?
The Horrors of Research: The Growing Systematic Review Monster
Roadmap to Successful Reviews: Translating Searches
Why Should You Write a Review Protocol? UK Libraries
What's New with PRISMA? Extension Updates
Rethlefsen ML, Farrell AM, Trzasko LC, Brigham TJ. Librarian co-authors correlated with higher quality reported search strategies in general internal medicine systematic reviews. Journal of clinical epidemiology. 2015 Jun 1;68(6):617–26. pmid:25766056