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A practical guide to question formation, systematic searching and study screening for literature reviews in ecology and evolution
Author(s) -
Foo Yong Zhi,
O'Dea Rose E.,
Koricheva Julia,
Nakagawa Shinichi,
Lagisz Malgorzata
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
methods in ecology and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.425
H-Index - 105
ISSN - 2041-210X
DOI - 10.1111/2041-210x.13654
Subject(s) - systematic review , rule of thumb , data science , computer science , management science , process (computing) , ecology , biology , medline , engineering , biochemistry , algorithm , operating system
Well‐conducted systematic reviews are invaluable for synthesising research findings. The conclusions of a review depend on how the research question was formulated, how relevant studies were found and how studies were selected for synthesis. Here, we present a practical guide for ecologists and evolutionary biologists on formulating a question for a systematic review, and finding a representative sample of research findings. We explain the steps involved using a worked example and practical training exercises. Throughout this guide we share tricks of the trade, included rules of thumb and software that we have found useful. We hope our paper helps demystify the systematic search process and encourages more researchers to adopt a systematic and reproducible approach when searching the literature.