Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
NIHR Innovation Observatory, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Syst Rev. 2022 Dec 1;11(1):258. doi: 10.1186/s13643-022-02122-z.
The Systematic Review (SR) Toolbox was developed in 2014 to collate tools that can be used to support the systematic review process. Since its inception, the breadth of evidence synthesis methodologies has expanded greatly. This work describes the process of updating the SR Toolbox in 2022 to reflect these changes in evidence synthesis methodology. We also briefly analysed included tools and guidance to identify any potential gaps in what is currently available to researchers.
We manually extracted all guidance and software tools contained within the SR Toolbox in February 2022. A single reviewer, with a second checking a proportion, extracted and analysed information from records contained within the SR Toolbox using Microsoft Excel. Using this spreadsheet and Microsoft Access, the SR Toolbox was updated to reflect expansion of evidence synthesis methodologies and brief analysis conducted.
The updated version of the SR Toolbox was launched on 13 May 2022, with 235 software tools and 112 guidance documents included. Regarding review families, most software tools (N = 223) and guidance documents (N = 78) were applicable to systematic reviews. However, there were fewer tools and guidance documents applicable to reviews of reviews (N = 66 and N = 22, respectively), while qualitative reviews were less served by guidance documents (N = 19). In terms of review production stages, most guidance documents surrounded quality assessment (N = 70), while software tools related to searching and synthesis (N = 84 and N = 82, respectively). There appears to be a paucity of tools and guidance relating to stakeholder engagement (N = 2 and N = 3, respectively).
The SR Toolbox provides a platform for those undertaking evidence syntheses to locate guidance and software tools to support different aspects of the review process across multiple review types. However, this work has also identified potential gaps in guidance and software that could inform future research.
系统评价（SR）工具包于 2014 年开发，用于整理可用于支持系统评价过程的工具。自成立以来，证据综合方法的范围大大扩大。这项工作描述了 2022 年更新 SR 工具包的过程，以反映证据综合方法的这些变化。我们还简要分析了包含的工具和指南，以确定当前可用于研究人员的工具和指南中存在的任何潜在差距。
我们于 2022 年 2 月手动提取了 SR 工具包中包含的所有指南和软件工具。一位审阅者使用 Microsoft Excel 从 SR 工具包中包含的记录中提取和分析信息，第二位审阅者检查了一部分记录。使用这个电子表格和 Microsoft Access，更新了 SR 工具包，以反映证据综合方法的扩展和进行的简要分析。
更新后的 SR 工具包于 2022 年 5 月 13 日推出，其中包含 235 个软件工具和 112 个指南文件。关于审查家族，大多数软件工具（N=223）和指南文件（N=78）适用于系统审查。然而，适用于综述评论的工具和指南文件较少（N=66 和 N=22），而定性评论的指南文件较少（N=19）。就审查制作阶段而言，大多数指南文件围绕质量评估（N=70），而软件工具则与搜索和综合（N=84 和 N=82）相关。似乎缺乏与利益相关者参与相关的工具和指南（N=2 和 N=3）。
SR 工具包为从事证据综合的人员提供了一个平台，可用于查找支持多种类型的审查过程不同方面的指南和软件工具。然而，这项工作还确定了指南和软件中可能存在的潜在差距，这可以为未来的研究提供信息。
