The AMARI Systematic Reviewing course, developed by Dr Helen Jack MD of the University of Washington, takes participants through all the steps required to conduct a publication-standard systematic review of literature on a research topic. Beginning with how to develop a searchable question for the review, it goes on to describe the use of PRIMSA protocol and PROSPERO registration, before examining search strategies, logic, and inclusion criteria in detail. Next, it covers the screening of results, how to find full text papers, and extraction of data from papers, as well as reference management tips. Risk of bias and quality assessment are also discussed, before finishing with how to present data for a thesis and/or publication.
These materials have also been extended to form a ‘train the trainers’ course for systematic reviewing. People who complete this trainers’ course should then be able to teach others how to conduct systematic reviews. We are currently working on making this material available to our partners.
Course materials (click on each item to open or download a PDF):
Day 1 - presentation slides (introduction, rationale, PRISMA, PICOS, framing a question, PROSPERO, mentorship)
Day 2 - presentation slides (search strategies, logic, searching PubMed and other specific databases)
Day 3 - presentation slides (reference management, eligibility criteria, documenting the review, screening)
Day 4 - presentation slides (assessing for risk of bias)
Day 5 - presentation slides (data extraction and presentation)
Handouts