Course Website, Fall 2025 — 8-10 October (virtual) and 1-5 December (in-person)
Instructor Information
Shelley Facente, PhD, MPH
Principal/owner of Facente Consulting
Adjunct Professor, University of California, Berkeley
shelley@facenteconsulting.com
Sara Durán, MPH, MCHES
Senior Consultant at Facente Consulting
sara@facenteconsulting.com
Course Outline and Resources
| Outline | Activity links and worksheets |
| Day one: Wednesday, 8 Oct | Slides | Recording -What is a systematic review (SR)? -Why and how are SRs used? -What is a meta-analysis (MA)? -Overview of PROSPERO registration and PRISMA guidelines -Defining the review question (PICOs) -Inclusion and exclusion criteria -Practice defining the research question in small groups | PRISMA Checklist Activity **PRISMA Checklist **PRISMA Abstract Checklist Criteria Practice **Criteria Worksheet Marsh (2023) Journal of Pediatric Surgery Zulfiqar (2023) PLOS One Cieslik (2020) Complementary Therapies in Medicine Yu (2022) Asian Journal of Surgery Defining the Research Question Practice **PICOS Worksheet |
| Day two: Thursday, 9 Oct | Slides | Recording -Searching for records/studies (PubMed, Embase, PsychINFO, other) -Screening records/studies -Practice screening studies in small groups | Searching for Records Resources MeSH Term Search (MeSH on Demand) PubMed Polyglot tool (for translating query syntax from one DB to another) Zotero Demo Zotero Plug-In to Bulk Remove Duplicates Screening Studies Practice Screening Worksheet Diagram **Screening Studies Worksheet Sample Screening and Data Extraction Tools Appalachian SRMA Screening Tool Appalachian SRMA Data Extraction Tool Appalachian SRMA (Publication) |
| Day three: Friday, 10 Oct | Slides | Recording -Extracting and organizing data -Developing Figure 1 -Continued practice searching, screening, and extracting data -Summarizing data & meta-analysis -Evaluating risk of bias (study quality) -Evaluating publication bias | Extracting Data Extracting Data Quick Sheet Creating Figure 1 PRISMA Flow Diagram Template Bias assessment tools (also found in “Templates and tools” below) RoB 2 Template RobVis tool JBI Critical Appraisal checklists Sample Risk of Bias Evaluation Tool Appalachian SRMA ROB Evaluation Tool |
Resources:
General SRMA guidelines and information
- Cochrane Handbook: The premier handbook on how to complete SRMA
- PROSPERO: SR prospective registration
- PRISMA Statement: Published guidelines for conducting SRMAs, includes checklists to guide work
- PICO Information: Guidance for defining your review question
- RoB 2 Guidance: Guidance for using the RoB 2 Template
Templates and tools
- Zotero: A free software for managing your references
- PRISMA Checklist: The PRISMA checklist to guide your work
- PRISMA Flow Diagram Generator: Tool for creating the PRISMA flow diagram
- Screening Tool Template: Template for developing screening tools
- RoB 2 Template: Template for risk of bias assessment
- RobVis tool: Tool for creating the risk of bias assessment plots
- JBI Critical Appraisal checklists: Tools for assessing study bias/quality for non-RCT study types
- Excel workbook to create a funnel plot: Template for creating a funnel plot in Excel
- Simple funnel plot template: Template for creating a funnel plot in Excel
Common Systematic Review software (both require subscriptions/licenses)
- RevMan (Review Manager, by Cochrane)
- EPPI-Reviewer (developed by the Evidence for Policy & Practice Information & Coordinating Centre)
Tutorials and tips
- MA tutorial slides: Step by step tutorial to complete a meta-analysis
- How to, Forest Plot in Excel: Tutorial on how to create a forest plot in Excel
- PubMed Search Tips: Tips on how to best search on PubMed
- How to combine search sets (video): A video tutorial on how to combine search sets in Web of Science (it’s similar in PubMed, MEDLINE Ovid, etc.)
- Best practices for screening studies: Tips on screening studies
Databases