+27 21 959 2946library@uwc.ac.za
In general, grey literature publications are non-conventional, fugitive, and sometimes ephemeral publications. They may include, but are not limited to the following types of materials: reports (pre-prints, preliminary progress and advanced reports, technical reports, statistical reports, memoranda, state-of-the art reports, market research reports, etc.), theses, conference proceedings, technical specifications and standards, non-commercial translations, bibliographies, technical and commercial documentation, and official documents not published commercially (primarily government reports and documents) (Alberani, 1990).
AIM: The aim of the systematic study was to determine the effect of parenting practices on adolescent risk behaviours such as substance use and sexual risk behaviour. METHOD: Quantitative research studies were systematically collected from various databases such as Academic Search Complete, MEDLINE (Pubmed), JSTOR, Project Muse and SAGE for the duration of 2003-2013 which was within the 10 year period of relevant literature to the date of study. RESULTS: Findings established that parental monitoring and communication prevented drug initiation, delayed alcohol initiation, and sexual debut, increased alcohol refusal efficacy, and decreased delinquent behaviour and risk taking behaviours in high risk adolescents. CONCLUSION: This review shows that parental practices play significant protective and promotive roles in managing adolescent risk behaviours.
Frame your research question (PICO/ PECO)
2. Develop search strategy.
3. Develop protocol
4. Run search strategy in at least two databases.
5. Retrieve and de-duplicate citations
6. Develop system for screening titles/ abstracts and full text.
7. Screen titles or/ abstracts
8. Retrieve and screen full text.
Online Books Freely available
1. Finding what works in Health Care: standards for systematic reviews by Institute of Medicine
2. Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions by Julian Higgins and Sally Green
Evidence-Based health care
Evidence-Based medicine
Evidence-Based public health
Evidence-Based policy
Trip is a clinical search engine designed to allow users to quickly and easily find and use high-quality research evidence to support their practice and/or care.
Trip has been online since 1997 and in that time has developed into the internet’s premier source of evidence-based content. Our motto is ‘Find evidence fast’ and this is something we aim to deliver for every single search.
Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine
The Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine develops, promotes and disseminates better evidence for healthcare.
A systematic review is a comprehensive literature search that tries to answer a well-defined question (often using the PICO model) & uses existing research as evidence. A protocol is used to determine what is & is not included in the search. Systematic reviews are often used as the foundation for a meta analysis (a statistical process that combines the findings from individual studies) & to re-evaluate clinical guidelines.
Here are some articles that discuss other types of reviews in more detail.
Use PICO as tool to analyze the parts of your question
| P | I | C | O |
| People/ Patient/ Problem | Intervention/ Exposure | Comparison | Outcomes |
| What are the important characteristics of the patients &/or problem? | What you plan to do for the patient or problem? | What, if anything, is the alternative to the intervention? | What is the outcome that you would like to measure? |
| People who exercise | warm up before exercise | no warm up | injury prevention |
PICO is a good framework to help clarify your systematic review question.
Beyond PICO: the SPIDER tool for qualitative evidence synthesis.
1. Gather your team.
2. Develop your protocol.
3. Data collection, locate, screen, and collect studies
4. Abstract data and appraise the risk of bias in the individual studies.
5. Synthesize findings, interpret and assess the overall body of evidence.
6. Write a report
7. Update
University of the Western Cape,
Robert Sobukwe Road,
Bellville,
7535
Tel: 021 959 2946
