What is a Systematic Review (SR)?

Systematic reviews (SR) are closely linked to the concept of rigorous impact evaluation (RIE). Put simply, an SR consists of many RIEs.

SRs synthesise the best available (rigorous) evidence on a specific research question. They have clear criteria for inclusion and exclusion of primary studies, an explicit and transparent search strategy, systematic procedures for data extraction, and offer a critical appraisal and analysis of included studies. By statistically integrating the results of a number of quantitative studies, a meta-analysis identifying average effects of interventions across large numbers of studies can be carried out.