How Long Will the Entire Project Take?
Comprehensive projects like systematic and scoping reviews are work and time intensive! Estimates of the average time to conduct a comprehensive review range from six months to two years. Below is an example timeline for a systematic review from the Cochrane Collaboration:
How Long Will the Literature Search Take?
This varies by project as some research questions take more time than others. Generally, once you've met with us, you can expect us to finish the search in about three weeks. This timeframe will also be extended if the group asks for a lot of revisions or if the team is slow to respond to our questions.
Isn’t There a Faster Way? I Don’t Have That Much Time!
Comprehensive reviews are rigorous methodologies and require a significant amount of time to conduct. If you need to conduct a review in less time, a different review methodology may be more appropriate, such as a:
Rapid reviews typically take five weeks to complete. To learn more about the differences between these review types, read Evidence summaries: the evolution of a rapid review approach.
