We search the following databases:
- Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
- Campbell Library
- PsycINFO
- MEDLINE
- Embase
- Web of Science
- Ungsinn
- Norwegian Institute of Public Health
- Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Assessment of Social Services
IN SUM is updated every month and new publications are continuously indexed in the database. In selecting and evaluating new publications, we use the Covidence software.
Two editorial staff members review all references for inclusion according to international standards for summarized evidence.
To be included, a review must meet minimum quality criteria in order to be considered a systematic review. This is important because a review can lead to misleading conclusions if it is not done according to systematic review standards.
The full search strategy can be found at the bottom of this page.
Our criteria for systematic reviews:
1. Are clear inclusion / exclusion criteria stated?
2. Is the search strategy comprehensive enough?
3. Were the included studies compiled / were the results of the included studies compiled?
4. Were the included studies quality assessed?
5. Is there sufficient information about the included studies / are the included studies adequately described?
To be included in IN SUM, 4 of these criteria must be met, of which 1-3 are mandatory
Assessing the quality of systematic reviews
Systematic reviews should comply with criteria for transparency and follow international standards for conducting and reporting in systematic reviews such as PRISMA. Reviews that do not use systematic methods may result in biased or imprecise estimates of the effects of treatments because the selection of studies for inclusion may be biased or the methods may result in some studies not being found. In addition, the appraisal of some studies may be biased, or the synthesis of the results of the selected studies may be inadequate or inappropriate.
70 % of the systematic reviews in IN SUM is quality appraised using the AMSTAR-checklist. Order our assessment by clicking the button “Order AMSTAR-review (e-mail)” placed on the right side of the abstract.