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OT Research Guide: Systematic Reviews

search engines and tips for Occupational Therapy research

Are systematic reviews peer reviewed?

That depends upon who produced the systematic review (SR) and who published it.

Systematic reviews created by the following organizations are peer reviewed:

Cochrane Collaboration (health interventions; for info on the org go here)

Campbell Collaboration (education, social welfare, crime & justice)

Joanna Briggs (nursing, health care)

 

Systematic reviews published in peer reviewed journals should be reviewed according to the journal's policies.

For example, the Open Medicine journal lists which articles are peer reviewed and which are not. http://www.openmedicine.ca/about/editorialPolicies#peerReviewProcess   Scroll up to see info on each article type.

Definition of a Systematic Review

A systematic review is:  "A review of a clearly formulated question that uses systematic and explicit methods to identify, select and critically appraise relevant research, and to collect and analyse data from the studies that are included in the review."  per the Cochrane Collaboration.

In other words, you start with a well stated question, document where and how you search for the research on the topic (usually in journal articles, but not always), then note in detail what studies were found and which you kept.  Finally you state what it all means for current practice and future research.