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Systematic Review

Writing the review

When writing up findings, systematic reviews commonly include an Introduction, Method, Results and Discussion/Conclusion. 

The following articles may help you structure and write a systematic review:

Bulter, A., Hall, H., & Copnell, B. (2016). A guide to writing a qualitative systematic review protocol to enhance evidence-based practice in nursing and health care. World views on Evidence-based Nursing, 13(3), 241-249. https://sigmapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/wvn.12134 

Cronin, M. A., & George, E. (2020). The why and how of the integrative review. Organizational Research Methods, 1. http://10.0.4.153/1094428120935507

Henderson, L. K., Craig, J. C., Willis, N. S., Tovey, D. & Webster, A. C. (2010). How to write a Cochrane systematic review. Nephrology, 15(6), 617-624. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1797.2010.01380.x

Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., & Altman, D. G. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement. Annals of Internal Medicine, 151, 264–269. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-151-4-200908180-00135

Muka, T., Glisic, M., Milic, J., Verhoog, S., Bohlius, J., Franco, O. H., Milic, J., Bramer, W. & Chowdhury, R. (2020). A 24-step guide on how to design, conduct, and successfully publish a systematic review and meta-analysis in medical research. European Journal of Epidemiology, 35(1), 49–60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-019-00576-5 

Pati, D. & Lorusso, L. N. (2018). How to write a systematic review of the literature. Health Environments Research and Design Journal, 11(1), 15-30. https://doi.org/10.1177/1937586717747384

Torraco, R. J. (2005). Writing integrative literature reviews: Guidelines and examples. Human Resource Development Review, 4(3), 356-367. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484305278283

Whittemore, R., & Knafl, K. (2005). The integrative review: Updated methodology. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 52(5), 546-553. https://doi-org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2005.03621.x

 

Find different types of reviews in theses and dissertations

Tuwhera AUT research repository
  • Search Tuwhera for reviews in your field and note how the different types of review are written in theses and dissertations.
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global

 

Examples of review articles

Click the following link to find different types of systematic review articles.

Systematic review

Business

Falkner, E. M., & Hiebl, M. R.W. (2015). Risk management in SMEs: A systematic review of available evidence. Journal of Risk Finance, 16(2), 122-144. https://doi.org./10.1108/JRF-06-2014-0079

Kubacki, K., Ronto, R., Lahtinen, V., Pang, B., & Rundle-Thiele, S. (2017). Social marketing interventions aiming to increase physical activity among adults: A systematic review. Health Education, 117(1), 69–89. https://doi.org/10.1108/HE-02-2016-0008

Kubacki, K., & Szablewska, N. (2019). Social marketing targeting Indigenous peoples: A systematic review. Health Promotion International, 34(1), 133–143. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/dax060

Leonidou, E., Christofi, M., Vrontis, D., & Thrassou, A. (2020). An integrative framework of stakeholder engagement for innovation management and entrepreneurship development. Journal of Business Research, 119, 245–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.11.054

Siemieniako, D., Kubacki, K., & Mitrega, M. (2021). Inter-organisational relationships for social impact: A systematic literature review. Journal of Business Research, 132, 453-469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.04.026

Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104, 333-339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039

Tranfield, D., Denyer, D., & Smart, P. (2003). Towards a methodology for developing evidence-informed management knowledge by means of systematic review. British Journal of Management, 14, 207–222. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.00375

Engineering 

Abdelmegid, M. A., González, V. A., O’Sullivan, M., Walker, C. G., Poshdar, M., & Ying, F. (2020). The roles of conceptual modelling in improving construction simulation studies: A comprehensive review. Advanced Engineering Informatics, 46, Article 101175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aei.2020.101175

Kelsen, B. A., Sumich, A., Kasabov, N., Liang, S. H. Y., & Wang, G. Y. (2020). What has social neuroscience learned from hyperscanning studies of spoken communication? A systematic review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.09.008

Health science

Alder, G., Signal, N., Olsen, S., & Taylor, D. (2019). A systematic review of paired associative Stimulation (PAS) to modulate lower limb corticomotor excitability: Implications for stimulation parameter selection and experimental design. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 13, Article 895. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2019.00895

Baig, M. M., GholamHosseini, H., Moqeem, A. A., Mirza, F. & Linden, M. (2017). A systematic review of wearable patient monitoring systems – Current challenges and opportunities for clinical adoption. Journal of Medical Systems, 41, Article 115. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-017-0760-1

Graham, R., & Masters‐Awatere, B. (2020). Experiences of Māori of Aotearoa New Zealand’s public health system: a systematic review of two decades of published qualitative research. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 44(3), 193–200. http://10.0.4.87/1753-6405.12971

Jarden, R. J., Jones, V., McClunie-Trust, P., Winnington, R., Merrick, E., Shannon, K., Turner, R., Donaldson, A. E., & Macdiarmid, R. (2021). Exploring the experiences and perceptions of students in a graduate entry nursing programme: A qualitative meta-synthesis. Nurse Education Today, 107. Article 105121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2021.105121

McGeown, J. P., Hume, P., Theadom, A., Quarrie, K. L. & Borotkanics, R. (2020). Nutritional interventions to improve neurophysiological impariments following traumatic brain injury: A systematic review. Journal of Neuroscience Research, 99(2), 573-603. https://doi-org/10.1002/jnr.24746 

Montayre, J., Neville, S., Dunn, I., Shrestha-Ranjit, J., & Wright-St. Clair, V. (2020). What makes community-based physical activity programs for culturally and linguistically diverse older adults effective? A systematic review. Australasian Journal on Ageing, 39(4), 331–340. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajag.12815

 

Scoping reviews

Business

Burga, R., & Rezania, D. (2015). A scoping review of accountability in social entrepreneurship. SAGE Open, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244015614606

Heavey, E., Baxter, K., & Birks, Y. (2019). Financial advice for funding later life care: A scoping review of evidence from England. Journal of Long-Term Care, 51-65. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/91497/1/Heavey_Financial-advice.pdf

Education

Hickmott, D., Prieto-Rodriguez, E., & Holmes, K. A. (2018). Scoping review of studies on computational thinking in K–12 mathematics classrooms. Digital Experiences in Mathematics Education, 4, 48-69. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40751-017-0038-8

O'Flaherty, J., & Phillips, C. (2015). The use of flipped classrooms in higher education: A scoping review. The Internet and Higher Education, 25, 85-95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2015.02.002

Engineering

Engebø, A., Lædre, O., Young, B., Larssen, P. F., Lohne, J., & Klakegg, O. J. (2020). Collaborative project delivery methods: A scoping review. Journal of Civil Engineering and Management, 26(3), 278-303. https://doi.org/10.3846/jcem.2020.12186

Reiman, A., Kaivo-oja, J., Parviainen, E., Takala, E., & Lauraeus, T. (2021). Human factors and ergonomics in manufacturing in the industry 4.0 context – A scoping review. Technology in Society, 65, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2021.101572

Health science

Jesus, T.S., Bright, F., Kayes, N., et al. (2016). Person-centred rehabilitation: What exactly does it mean? Protocol for a scoping review with thematic analysis towards framing the concept and practice of person-centred rehabilitation. British Medical Journal Open 6(7). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-011959

LeClair, J., Watts, T. & Zahner, S. (2021). Nursing strategies for environmental justice: A scoping review. Public Health Nursing, 38(2), 296-308.  https://doi.org/10.1111/phn.12840

Macdiarmid, R., Turner, R., Winnington, R. et al. (2021). What motivates people to commence a graduate entry nursing programme: a mixed method scoping review. BMC Nursing, 20(47). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-021-00564-9

Madanian, S., Norris, T., & Parry, D. (2020). Disaster eHealth: Scoping review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(10), Article e18310. https://doi.org/10.2196/18310

Thompson, D.S., Fazio, X., Kustra, E., Patrick, L., & Stanley, D. (2016). Scoping review of complexity theory in health services research. BMC Health Services Research, 16, Article number 87. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-016-1343-4

 

Rapid reviews

Business

Jahangirian, M., Eldabi, T., Garg, L., Jun, G. T., Naseer, A., Patel, B., Stergioulas, L., & Young, T. (2011). A rapid review method for extremely large corpora of literature: Applications to the domains of modelling, simulation, and management. International Journal of Information Management, 31(3), 234–243. http://10.0.3.248/j.ijinfomgt.2010.07.004

Health science

Brooks, S. K., Webster, R. K., Smith, L. E., Woodland, L., Wessely, S., Greenberg, N., & Rubin, G. J. (2020). The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: Rapid review of the evidence. Lancet, 395(10227), 912–920. http://10.0.3.248/S0140-6736(20)30460-8

Evans, C. J., Ison, L., Ellis-Smith, C., Nicholson, C., Costa, A., Oluyase, A. O., Namisango, E. V. E., Bone, A. E., Brighton, L. J., Y, D., Combes, S., Bajwah, S., Cao, W. E. I., Harding, R., Ong, P., Higginson, I. J., & Maddocks, M. (2019). Service delivery models to maximize quality of life for older people at the end of life: A rapid review. Milbank Quarterly, 97(1), 113–175. http://10.0.4.87/1468-0009.12373

Furlong, L., Serry, T., Bridgman, K., & Erickson, S. (2021). An evidence‐based synthesis of instructional reading and spelling procedures using telepractice: A rapid review in the context of COVID‐19. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 56(3), 456–472. http://10.0.4.87/1460-6984.12619

Meis-Harris, J., Klemm, C., Kaufman, S., Curtis, J., Borg, K., & Bragge, P. (2021). What is the role of eco-labels for a circular economy? A rapid review of the literature. Journal of Cleaner Production, 306, Article 127134. http://10.0.3.248/j.jclepro.2021.127134

 

Integrative reviews

Business

Sajjad, A., & Shahbaz, W. (2020). Mindfulness and social sustainability: An Integrative Review. Social Indicators Research, 150(2), 73–94. http://10.0.3.239/s11205-020-02297-9

Yap, S.-F., & Kapitan, S. (2017). Consumption coping and life transitions: An integrative review. Australasian Marketing Journal, 25(3), 194–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ausmj.2017.04.003

Health science

Almeida, S., & Montayre, J. (2019). An integrative review of nurse-led virtual clinics: He arotakenga hanumi i ngā tari hauora mariko nā te tapuhi i ārahi. Nursing Praxis in Aotearoa New Zealand, 35(1), 18–28. https://doi.org/10.36951/NgPxNZ.2019.003

Classen, B., Tudor, K., Johnson, F., & McKenna, B. (2021). Embedding lived experience expertise across the mental health tertiary education sector: An integrative review in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpm.12756

Gautam, S., Neville, S., & Montayre, J. (2019). What is known about the spirituality in older adults living in residential care facilities? An Integrative review. International Journal of Older People Nursing, 14(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/opn.12228

Kanengoni, B., Andajani-Sutjahjo, S., & Holroyd, E. (2018). Setting the stage: Reviewing current knowledge on the health of New Zealand immigrants - an integrative review. PeerJ, 6, Article e5184. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5184

Montayre, J., Neville, S., Dunn, I., Shrestha-Ranjit, J., & Wright-St. Clair, V. (2020). What makes community-based physical activity programs for culturally and linguistically diverse older adults effective? A systematic review. Australasian Journal on Ageing, 39(4), 331–340. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajag.12815

Neville, S., Wright-St Clair, V., Montayre, J., Adams, J., & Larmer, P. (2018). Promoting Age-Friendly Communities: an Integrative Review of Inclusion for Older Immigrants. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 33(4), 427–440. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-018-9359-3

 

Publishing review articles

It is worthwhile to spend time on evaluating and selecting a good journal for publishing. We suggest you:

  • Read our Get Published guide
  • Consult your colleagues and supervisors 
  • Check whether a journal publishes review articles. For example, the following image shows the proportion of articles published in a journal (indexed by Scopus). Most publications in this journal are research articles. Only 1.9% of the publications are review articles.