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Academic English & Research vocabulary · Literature Review

Systematic review

Meaning in academic english & research, with examples

nounCommon term

In academic english & research, systematic review means: A review that uses a clear, pre-planned and repeatable method to find, select and evaluate all relevant studies on a specific question.

In Turkish: sistematik derleme, sistematik inceleme

How it is used

Common in medicine, health and education. Authors register a protocol, search several databases, apply inclusion criteria and often report the process with a PRISMA flow diagram. A narrative literature review is less formal. Many systematic reviews include a meta-analysis.

Example sentences

  1. We conducted a systematic review of studies published between 2010 and 2024.

  2. The systematic review followed the PRISMA guidelines.

Common collocations

  • conduct a systematic review
  • systematic review and meta-analysis
  • PRISMA flow diagram
  • review protocol
  • meta-analysisA statistical method that combines the results of many independent studies on the same question to produce an overall estimate of an effect.
  • literature reviewA critical summary of what has already been published on a topic, showing the main ideas, debates and gaps that a new study responds to.
  • databaseAn online collection of records for journal articles, books and other publications that researchers can search to find literature.
  • criteriaStandards or conditions used to judge, select or decide something; the singular form is criterion.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Literature Review

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