Systematic and Scoping Reviews: 9. Write the Review

To Do during this step

  • Re-run your search
  • Use PRISMA to report search
  • Write!
  • Submit review to journal

Re-run your search

The systematic review process often takes a year or more to complete. If it has been over a year, your searches should be re-run and any new records should be screened and, if appropriate, incorporated into your review. There may not be many, or even any, but it is best practice to check. Many journals require that SR searches be run within a year or even 6 months of submission.

Report your processes

For writing your search methodology, refer to the PRISMA-S extension. This extension will help you present your search process in a way that is complete and reproducible. The explanatory paper provides examples of how to report the elements of the search methodology as well as the items to report. As a result, following the PRISMA-S extension may make your search methods easier to write as well as more complete.

Most systematic reviews follow PRISMA for reporting their process. If you are using PRISMA:

Writing your review

Sections of a Systematic Review Manuscript

Title Describe your manuscript and state whether it is a systematic review, meta-analysis, or both.
Abstract Structure the abstract and include (as applicable): background, objectives, data sources, study eligibility criteria, participants, interventions, quality assessment and synthesis methods, results, limitations, conclusions, implications of key findings, and systematic review registration number.
Introduction   Describe the rationale for the review and provide a statement of questions being addressed.
Methods Include details regarding the protocol, eligibility criteria, databases searched, full search strategy of at least one database (often reported in appendix), and the study selection process. Describe how data were extracted and analyzed. If a librarian is part of your research team, that person may be best suited to write this section. 
Results Report the numbers of articles screened at each stage using a PRISMA diagram. Include information about included study characteristics, risk of bias (quality assessment) within studies, and results across studies.
Discussion Summarize main findings, including the strength of evidence and limitations of the review. Provide a general interpretation of the results and implications for future research.
Funding Describe any sources of funding for the systematic review.
Appendix Include entire search strategy for at least one database in the appendix (include search strategies for all databases searched for more transparency). 

 

Style Guides

Depending on where you publish, your manuscript will need to adhere to a style guide. Some publishers have their own guidelines, but common styles include the AMA Manual of Style (used by Physical Therapy students and practitioners) and APA Style (used by other health sciences fields, such as Occupational Therapy and Nursing).

Publishing your review

Once you've written your manuscript, you're ready to submit it to journals!

What journal should I publish in?

Make sure to check whether the journal your submitting to accepts systematic or scoping reviews. Not ever journal accepts these types of research. Skim some of the titles previously published in the journal to make sure your topic is relevant. If you're not sure where to submit your article, discuss with peers, mentors, and consult with your subject librarian

Open Access Journals

If you're able, consider publishing in an Open Access (OA) journal. This increases discoverability and access of your research. The University Libraries provides funds for authors publishing in OA journals to offset publication fees for journals that are fully OA (not "hybrid").

  • Last Updated: Apr 16, 2025 12:52 PM
  • URL: https://libguides.gvsu.edu/SR