Library Guides: Systematic Reviews: Publish

Does your review meet the grade?

Systematic Reviewlution is a living review compiling evidence of where published systematic reviews are not being done well. Their framework of problems groups evidence according to the links below.

Comprehensive
- Aim to search for and be inclusive of all relevant studies.
- Problems occur when studies are missed or ignored and this can limit the systematic review’s validity.
Rigorous
- Use appropriate methods to ensure it is methodologically sound.
- Errors in the approach to conducting the review or lack of expertise can jeopardise the internal validity of the systematic review.
Transparent
- Report its methods with enough detail to enable replication.
- If the reporting quality of a review is poor or the full methods are inaccessible then the systematic review is not reproducible.
Objective
- Be conducted fairly, by teams with appropriate expertise.
- If the review is done in a perfunctory way by people who do not care about the conclusion or by people with vested interests, then the systematic review may not be reliable.

Registering and publishing protocols

It is a good idea to register the protocol in a publicly accessible way as this will also help avoid other people starting a review on the same topic.

Protocol registry sites

PROSPERO
Health and social care, welfare, public health, education, crime, justice, and international development, where there is a health-related outcome
Campbell Collaboration
International network that publishes systematic reviews with a social, economic, crime and education focus.
Open Science Framework
Research Registry
The Research Registry is a one-stop shop for registering all types of research studies, from ‘first in man’ case reports to observational/interventional studies to systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Journals publishing protocols

Below are some examples of journals that publish protocols. Check the aims, scope and author guidelines for journals to find more.

Publishing your review

Below are a few examples of journals that publish systematic and similar types of reviews. Many research journals also publish different types of reviews.

To find more journals check the aims, scope and author guidelines for journals you wish to publish in or conduct a search of the journal to see if they include articles of that type.

When considering publishing your review also consider more general aspects of publishing your work, such as your publishing strategy and choice of sources to publish in. The link below to the JCU Library guide on publishing provides more general guidance on publishing your research

Publishing Academic Research