Not seeing a resource you think would be useful on our Research Guide? Let us know!
According to the Users' Guide to Medical Literature (2015), a systematic review is defined as "a summary of research that addresses a focused clinical question in a systematic, reproducible manner."
The answer is, yes--there are definitely other types of reviews. Some of the other, more common types of reviews include:
A narrative review covers the epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of a condition or disease. It often also points to areas for future research. This traditional review, usually authored by an expert on the subject, has been in existence for at least 60 years.
"Scoping reviews are intended to be broad, exploratory reconnaissance searches of the relevant literature to determine key characteristics of the subject." (Spencer & Eldredge)
Rapid reviews are a far less thorough review of evidence than a systematic review on a subject. They are performed rapidly in order to provide timely advice to clinicians.
Feel free to make a copy or re-use this page as long as you credit UNM HSLIC.
This guide was created by a Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center staff member and is licensed by the Health Science Library and Informatics Center of the University of New Mexico under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
