When conducting a Systematic Review, it's crucial to establish clear selection criteria for studies. This involves specifying study characteristics (e.g., PICOS framework, follow-up duration) and report characteristics (e.g., publication years, language, and status) while providing a justification for these choices. 📚🔍
💡 Inclusion & Exclusion Criteria: Key to a Fair Review 💡
Your inclusion and exclusion criteria will determine which studies are accepted or excluded from your review. Thoughtfully defining these criteria is essential to minimize bias and ensure a balanced and credible final analysis. ⚖️
✔️ Compare specific treatments
✔️ Be experimental or observational (or both)
✔️ Published within a specified timeframe (with a valid reason)
✔️ Be of a certain publication type
✔️ Include a specific population
🚫 Used qualitative methods
🚫 Followed a certain study design (e.g., observational)
🚫 Belong to a specific publication type (e.g., systematic reviews)
🚫 Published before a certain year (must justify why)
🚫 Used animal models 🐭
🚫 Published in a language other than English 🌍
According to the PRISMA checklist (Item 6), researchers should clearly define eligibility criteria based on both study characteristics and report attributes to maintain transparency and rigor in their review. ✅📖