Typically, systematic reviews take between 6 and 24 months to complete. A thorough systematic review usually requires at least 3 people to work on the review, including individuals who can perform unbiased article screening.
PRISMA provides guidance on the reporting and conducting of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. PRISMA stands for Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. Authors conducting systematic reviews can use PRISMA requirements for best practices, registration of reviews, protocols, checklists, and work flowcharts.
PRISMA has created a systematic review protocol. This protocol describes the reasons for conducting the review as well as the research hypothesis and methods for conducting the review. It is written prior to starting the review and should be used as a guide throughout the review process.
PRISMA has created a convenient checklist indicating what needs to be done for the systematic review.
PRISMA also provides a diagram outlining how information flows through the systematic review process.
PRISMA-S was developed to provide guidance on reporting the search components of a systematic review.
In addition to PRISMA, Cochrane Systematic Reviews provides another guide for conducting systematic reviews. Cochrane Systematic Reviews are done to draw conclusions about the quality of healthcare interventions. Cochrane has created a manual entitled, Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions, which is available online through the HSLIC catalog, and provides the users with best practices for planning and conducting systematic reviews.
Use the WorldCat Discovery link below to access the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions in the HSLIC catalog:
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Principles and Practice of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis by 
Piecing Together Systematic Reviews and Other Evidence Syntheses by 
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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.