Systematic Reviews and other Knowledge Synthesis: Select studies

Once studies have been selected, they will need to go through two rounds of screening: a title/abstract review and a full-text review. Screening is done to eliminate studies that do not meet your inclusion criteria. It is recommended that you have at least two independent reviewers to screen studies. A third reviewer should resolve any conflicts. 

Pilot testing your data extraction form with the review team is recommended (Higgins et al., 2023, Chapter 5).

Keep track of the number you exclude at each level.

Title and abstract review:

1. Read through the titles and abstracts and mark include, exclude, or undecided
2. If you decide to exclude a study, make note of the reason
3. Once your review by title and abstract is complete, compare with the results from your blinded 2nd reviewer
4. Send any conflicting results to a third blinded reviewer
5. Studies that make it through this process will need to be read in full and appraised

Full-text review:

1. Find the full text of all included articles
2. Read through the full text and mark include, exclude, or undecided
3. If you decide to exclude a study, make note of the reason
4. Send any conflicting results to a third blinded reviewer
5. Studies that make it through this process will be included in the final review