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Systematic Review Service

Partnering with MSK community members interested in systematic and related reviews

You Need a Systematic Review Protocol

Protocols lay out your review's rationale, the eligibility criteria, the information sources, and moreA protocol is the foundation of a successful systematic review. Committing to writing one as a team is a best research practice as it defines your research question and the steps of the project for everyone involved.

When completed early in your review process, the protocol:

  • Streamlines the process for all team members.
  • Improves the quality of the resulting review.
  • Saves time, as you have your plans outlined before you start.
  • Increases your chances of publication, as some journals require pre-registered protocols (e.g., JAMA).

The Protocol Process

Look to the PRISMA for Systematic Review Protocols (PRISMA-P) extension for everything you need to include in a systematic review protocol. Protocol registries follow similar, if not identical, requirements.

  • The PRISMA-P Checklist includes 17 items under three sections: Administrative Information, Introduction, and Methods. Critical topics for the team to think about from the start of planning are included below:
    • Eligibility criteria: study and report characteristics.
    • Risk of bias in individual studies: methods for assessing this and how it will be used in data synthesis.
    • Data synthesis: criteria and methods for combining data for quantitative (e.g., meta-analysis) or qualitative (e.g., narrative summary) synthesis.
  • If you need more information about items within the PRISMA-P checklist, look to the PRISMA-P Explanation and Elaboration paper.

If you are working on a scoping review, JBI offers a template for scoping review protocols.

You have several choices as to where to register a review protocol:

If you are performing a scoping review, your protocol is not eligible for registration on PROSPERO.

Other registry options include:

It is an option, but not a requirement, to publish your review protocol. Here is a selection of journals that accept them. Note that all of these journals charge article processing fees.

How the MSK Library Can Help

The MSK Library requires that systematic review teams have begun work on a protocol before an MSK librarian will begin work on a search strategy. This includes at minimum a focused research question and eligibility criteria (also known as inclusion and exclusion criteria).

If you need assistance getting started before you are matched with an MSK librarian, reach out for support. A preliminary meeting can be helpful to: 

  • Hone your research question.
  • Talk through your inclusion and exclusion criteria.
  • Look at options for quality appraisal tools.
  • Think about the data you need to collect to answer your focused question.

Protocols written with PRISMA-P:

  • Give MSK librarians the background they need to build searches that accurately reflect your topic.
  • Require including a draft of a search strategy and a list of sources to be searched, which your MSK librarian will send to the team once it is ready.

Your MSK librarian can also work with you to determine the review requirements of your target journal(s), which may impact the plans for your review as reflected in your protocol.

How Covidence Can Help

Covidence has an eBook on how to write a protocol for an intervention systematic review: A Practical Guide to Protocol Development for Systematic Reviews. This is free to download, and includes examples for each step of the process.