VU Systematic Literature Reviews: Protocol

VU Systematic Review guide

The purpose of the protocol is to outline the methods you will be using and to provide a clear and explicit plan for your work.

Doing this will:

  1. improve efficiency - by setting out a plan tasks can be identified in advance.
  2. improve communication - all team members are working from a common document
  3. minimise the possibility of arbitrary decision making which can allow bias to creep in
  4. allow comparison of the final review with the protocol to identify any changes in process or reporting
  5. reduce research waste by identifying which reviews are underway and avoiding duplication
  6. improve the quality of your review and increase your chances of publication

 

 A protocol includes:

Systematic reviews include clear criteria of what studies will be included and excluded.

These should be guided by your research question and objectives. They need to:

  • match the elements of your question
  • be included in the protocol
  • if you do not have a protocol they should be agreed upon by all reviewers before screening starts

Typical inclusion or exclusion criteria include:

Demographic factors

Age, sex, ethnicity etc.

Study design and duration

What types of studies do you need to answer your question?

Measure

Are you looking at a particular type of outcome measure? For example, functional abilities or quality of life?

Date range

Only apply a date range if you are updating a previously published systematic review
Setting School, hospital, community-centre etc.

Consult the following for a list of common inclusion/exclusion criteria for systematic reviews.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria can be applied at both the searching and screening stages.

  • broader criteria may form part of the search strategy.
  • detailed criteria can often not be reliably identified at the searching phase and will be identified by screening search results.

PRISMA for systematic review protocol (PRISMA-P)

PRISMA-P is 'a guideline to help authors prepare protocols for planned systematic reviews and meta-analyses that provides them with a minimum set of items to be included in the protocol.' - PRISMA-P Statement, p. 2.

Publisher requirement

While PRISMA-P is the preferred reporting item for systematic reviews and meta-analysis, there may be other specific requirements from your review body or publisher, for example:

  • breakdown of the number identified through databases searches.
  • breakdown of a number of records excluded through:
    • title screening
    • abstract screening
    • full-text screening 

To view criteria descriptions, hover the cursor over the green arrow, or download the file below.

Make your protocol visible

PROSPERO is an international, free to search the database of prospectively registered systematic reviews in health and social care.
 

 Once you register, your review will:

  • be available open access through the PROSPERO database.
  • have a unique registration number. This number can be cited in publications and reports to provide the link between your planned and completed review. This is recommended by PRISMA (2009) and many publishers.
  • Registration with PROSPERO "should ideally take place before formal screening against inclusion criteria has begun" (Booth et al., 2012)
 
Guidance notes for registering a systematic review protocol with PROSPERO
Video - PROSPERO How do I access and complete the registration form?
 
 

Where to prospectively register a systematic review by Pieper and Rombey (2022).

 

Publishing your protocol

You can publish your protocol in the following journals and databases:

Further resources