An important step in your project is selecting an appropriate review methodology. Read the following to decide which review type to pursue: A typology of reviews: an analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies
The biggest distinction is whether your review is considered comprehensive or not. A non-comprehensive review seeks to find only some literature on a topic. It doesn't require a protocol and has a shorter time commitment.
Conversely, comprehensive reviews seek to find all available literature on a topic. They include but are not limited to: systematic reviews (with or without a meta-analysis), rapid reviews, integrative reviews, living reviews, umbrella reviews, and scoping reviews. The literature search for these projects is exhaustive, follows specific standards, and is documented thoroughly. This type of project also requires a registered protocol that follows a specific template. Treadwell librarians can guide you to the right template and registry.
You can expect to spend six months to two years working on a comprehensive review. Conversely, non-comprehensive (narrative) reviews typically take about a month. Rapid reviews also take less time -- about two months -- but require justification for choosing that methodology (e.g., examining an emerging technology or responding to a public health crisis).
The timeline for the literature search 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 for comprehensive reviews and less time for narrative reviews.
Timeline for a systematic review from the Cochrane Collaboration
Systematic Review
Scoping Review
Rapid Review
Integrative Review
The PRISMA Statement, Checklist and Flow Diagram are a set of standards that address what should be reported in a review. In addition, there are separate checklists for your protocol and abstract. Many journals expect authors to use the PRISMA statement, and some require you to submit a PRISMA checklist and flowchart with your manuscript.
Most review types use the main checklist with one exception. Scoping reviews follow a separate PRISMA extension:
