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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

The PRISMA for Systematic Review Protocols (PRISMA-P) extension lays out everything your team needs to include in a systematic review protocol. Protocol registries follow similar, if not identical, requirements.

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:

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 a librarian will begin work on a search strategy. This includes at minimum a focused research question and inclusion and exclusion criteria.

If you need assistance getting started, we can set up a preliminary meeting with you to: 

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

PRISMA-P protocols:

  • 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 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.