What Makes Systematic Literature Review Different?
While traditional narrative reviews offer broad thematic overviews without systematic protocols, and scoping reviews map existing evidence without quality assessment, a systematic literature review is distinguished by its rigorous, protocol-driven methodology. It employs exhaustive, documented searches across multiple databases, explicit inclusion/exclusion criteria, and critical appraisal of all included studies to minimize bias and provide the highest level of evidence synthesis. A meta-analysis, often conducted within a systematic review, adds a statistical layer by quantitatively pooling results from compatible studies. Selecting the right type, whether for definitive answers to focused questions, background context, identifying research gaps, or statistical pooling, ensures your methodology correctly serves your research question and disciplinary standards.