Is Your Review Really a Systematic Review? (Part 2)
Julie H. Schiavo, MLIS, AHIP
Assistant Director, Dental Services
School of Dentistry Liaison
It the last article, we discussed the definition of a systematic review and the elements
that must be included in order for it to be considered a true systematic review. However,
if your project does not meet these requirements, what kind of review can you do?
There are many different types of review articles; in 2019, Sutton et al. published
a list of 48 different types of reviews. Some of these review types are very similar,
but others are significantly different in scope, information retrieval, study format,
and study quality.1
The traditional literature review article, also known as a Narrative Review, is the
predecessor of the Systematic Review. The goal of the Narrative Review is to provide
an overview of published literature on a subject. The subject of these reviews can
be wide-ranging and there are no set standards to the completeness or comprehensiveness
of the review. A Narrative Review may include a quality assessment for included articles,
but it is not necessary.2
Another popular review, the Scoping Review, is used to investigate a specific topic
so as to determine the appropriateness of a future primary study or Systematic Review.
In other words, it is the review conducted prior to beginning your research. Scoping
Reviews will demonstrate if your research question has already been answered in the
literature or if there are enough pre-existing studies to conduct a proper Systematic
Review.2 These are similar to Mapping Reviews which cover a broader topic and focuses on the
gaps in the literature.1
An Integrative Review (also known as a Mixed Methods Review, or Integrative Synthesis)
is a type of literature review which integrates both qualitative and quantitative
data using summaries and analysis to increase knowledge of a topic.1 These reviews require analysis of each included article to discover correlations
and knowledge gaps.2 An Umbrella Review is a review of reviews. The goal of an Umbrella Review is to compile
the evidence from several different reviews into one document. They usually address
a broad topic and/or a topic with many differing interventions or viewpoints.2
A type of review which is very similar to a Systematic Review is the Rapid Review.
A Rapid Review follows the same process of a Systematic Review with a focused question,
robust literature search, critical appraisal, synthesis, and analysis, but some steps
(usually the literature search and/or critical appraisal) are abbreviated in order
for it to be completed sooner.2
If you are having trouble determining the type of review you want to conduct, please
contact the library. We will be happy to help you figure it out. Another good resource
is a flow chart developed by Cornell University Library, What Type of Review is Right
for You? The link is listed below.
References
Sutton A, Clowes M, Preston L, Booth A. Meeting the review family: exploring review
types and associated information retrieval requirements. Health Info Libr J. 2019
Sep;36(3):202-222. doi: 10.1111/hir.12276. PMID: 31541534.
Grant MJ, Booth A. A typology of reviews: an analysis of 14 review types and associated
methodologies. Health Info Libr J. 2009 Jun;26(2):91-108. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x.
PMID: 19490148.
Cornell University Libraries [Internet]. What Type of Review is Right for You? [cited
2022 Apr 27]. Available from: https://www.library.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/SystematicReview_DecisionTreeMethodologies_v3.pdf