Systematic reviews: The review team

Who will be on your review team?

• Who will be the lead author?
• Who will organise and drive the review?
• Who will define (and refine) the question?
• Who will design the search strategies?
• Who will run searches across multiple databases?
• Who will remove duplicate results?
• Who will set up a review in Covidence?
• Who will screen search results on title and abstract (2+ people)?
• Who will source full text for the full text review?
• Who will screen records on full text (2+ people)?
• Who will assess the quality of studies (2+ people)?
• Who will extract data (2+ people)?
• Who will prepare statistics for a meta analysis?
• Who will contribute to the paper, including writing up methodology?
• Who will be responsible for version control?
• Who will submit the paper to journals and respond to reviewers?

Topic expertise

• Most reviews start with topic experts asking a question, so not usually a problem
• Avoid conflicts of interest that could create a risk of bias.
• Clarify how much time topic experts are prepared to commit to the process. Will they help with screening, or just provide feedback on the topic and results?

Search expertise

• The entire review depends on systematic and replicable searches.
• Ensure that at least one person is proficient in literature searching.
• Search skills can be developed through tutorials and online resources provided by the library.
• The library offers a limited co-authorship service (SVHM staff only).

Screening records - time commitment

• Don't underestimate the time commitment needed to screen large numbers of search results.
• At least 2 people with topic expertise need to screen on title and abstract, then on full text.
• There needs to be a way to resolve disagreements - which may involve a third person.
• Don't assume a supervisor can screen records - they rarely have time.
• Consider a trade - you screen someone else's project if they screen for you. You both gain experience and an extra publication. This is particularly helpful for people doing a PhD.

Assessing quality and data extraction

• At least 2 topic experts required.

Statistics expertise

• If you are including a meta-analysis ensure that someone in the team is proficient in statistics.

Writing skills

• The lead author usually develops the initial draft and leads the process.
• Most team members should contribute to the written publication according to their expertise.
• Version control! 

Journal submission

• Who will persevere with submitting to journals, which may need to be done multiple times?