Systematic Reviews- Legacy Guide (2014-2020): Tools and Resources
Created by Health Science Librarians
Contact HSL About Your Review
Ready to start a systematic review? HSL Librarians can help!
Fill out the Systematic Review Request Form and the best-suited librarian will get back to you promptly. Our systematic review service is only available to faculty, staff, students, and others who are affiliated with UNC Chapel Hill.
Systematic Review Toolkit
- CovidenceUser-friendly tool that allows you to do title/abstract screening, full-text screening, data abstraction, and quality assessment in one place. One free personal review. UNC offers institutional subscription with unlimited reviews.
- EndNoteEndNote is a citation management program that you can use to import references from multiple databases; organize and manage references; and format bibliographies and manuscripts.
- AbstrackrAn open source abstract review tool created by Brown University, Abstrackr is a free program that you can use to facilitate citation screening for systematic reviews. The program will allow participants to collaboratively screen and annotate abstracts for relevance.
- Excel Templates for Searching and ScreeningPublicly available templates for documenting your search and the numbers for your PRISMA tree, as well as templates for title/abstract and full-text screening, provided by the University of Texas.
- DistillerSRThis fee-based online application is designed to assist with abstract and full-text screening, as well as data extraction and data output.
- Systematic Review Data Repository (SRDR)From AHRQ, SRDR is a free and easy-to-use tool for data extraction and management designed specifically for systematic reviews. In addition to providing data management and storage, SRDR also contains a repository of data from other systematic reviews, with the option to publish your data when your review is complete.
More free systematic review tools are available online. You can search these tools and find associated articles through the Systematic Review Toolbox.
- SR Toolbox
A comprehensive list of systematic review tools. You can select a tool based on the part of the systematic review you are working on, the cost, discipline, or the underlying approach.
Methods and Further Reading
- Systematic Reviews: The ProcessGuide from the Duke University Medical Center Library with a description of the systematic review process links to guidance and resources for conducting a systematic review.
- Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of InterventionsMethodological guidance for the preparation and maintenance of Cochrane intervention reviews. Many of the principles and methods described here are appropriate for systematic reviews applied to other types of research and to systematic reviews of interventions undertaken by others.
- AHRQ Methods Guide for Effectiveness and Comparative Effectiveness ReviewsThe AHRQ Methods Guide for Effectiveness and Comparative Effectiveness Reviews, provides detailed information on selecting eligibility criteria, searching the literature, data extraction, quality assessment, and other steps in the creation of a systematic review.
- IOM Systematic Review StandardsA list of standards for systematic reviews from the Institute of Medicine, including a list of the steps that a systematic review should include and what those steps should entail.
Systematic Review Databases
- Campbell Collaboration Library of Systematic ReviewsSystematic Reviews in Education, Crime and Justice, and Social Welfare
- Cochrane LibraryLeading source for full-text systematic reviews in health care. Searches a collection of databases that includes the CDSR, CENTRAL, Clinical Answers, and selected reviews from Epistemonikos. RCTs are from Medline, Embase, ClinicalTrials.gov, the WHO ICTRP, CINAHL (since 2020) and more. Click on "Search Limits" or the Browse tab to select content from a specific database.
- Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE)Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of health care interventions
- Database of promoting health effectiveness reviews (DoPHER)Database of more than 1,700 reviews of health promotion effectiveness.
- OTSeekerSystematic reviews, randomized controlled trials and other resources for occupational therapy interventions. Abstract only.
- PEDro: Physiotherapy Evidence DatabaseDatabase of over 33,000 randomised trials, systematic reviews and clinical practice guidelines in physiotherapy and physical therapy from the Centre for Evidence-Based Physiotherapy.
- PsycBITE (Psychological Database for Brain ImpairmentTreatment Efficacy)Database of studies of cognitive, behavioural and other treatments for psychological problems and issues occurring as a consequence of acquired brain impairment (ABI). Rates studies for their methodological quality. Freely available.
- SpeechBITE (Speech Pathology Database for Best Interventions and Treatment Efficacy)Systematic reviews and other literature related to speech pathology interventions. Evidence is graded; highest-quality evidence is listed first for each search.
Writing Tools
- APA Style.orgTutorials, FAQs, and references to help master the writing style put forth in Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
Systematic review / protocol registries
- Campbell Collaboration - systematic reviews of the effects of social interventions
- Cochrane Collaboration - systematic reviews of health care and clinical interventions
- PROSPERO - international prospective register of systematic reviews
Primary Literature Databases
- PubMedDatabase of biomedical literature from the National Library of Medicine covering journal articles about medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, biology and public health from 1950 to the present; multiple mobile apps available, provides access to MEDLINE, etc. Includes links to full text of UNC-CH's electronic journal subscriptions.
- EmbaseHighly versatile, multipurpose and up-to-date biomedical database covering the most important international biomedical literature from 1947 to the present day. Supports drug discovery & development, pharmacovigilance, medical device development and post-market surveillance, and evidence-based medicine.
- Cochrane LibraryLeading source for full-text systematic reviews in health care. Searches a collection of databases that includes the CDSR, CENTRAL, Clinical Answers, and selected reviews from Epistemonikos. RCTs are from Medline, Embase, ClinicalTrials.gov, the WHO ICTRP, CINAHL (since 2020) and more. Click on "Search Limits" or the Browse tab to select content from a specific database.