# Welcome to SMIRK Unit
6 - Writing a literature
review and describing
your literature search
using PRISMA.

- Writing a literature review video
- What is PRISMA?
- How does it work?
- Filling in PRISMA
- Filling in PRISMA 2
- Filling in PRISMA - 3
- Filling in PRISMA - 4
- Filling in PRISMA - 5
- Back to main index

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

# Writing a literature
review video

This vidcast by Angela Shapiro, EBE LDC gives some tips on how to write up your literature review. She explains how to describe the sources that you have searched and any limits that you have applied. She includes some handy tips on critical reading and other topics.

Writing up your search strategy is slightly different. PRISMA is a standardised flowchart which gives a graphic representation of your search strategy. the following pages will tell you how to use it.

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

# What is PRISMA?

PRISMA stands for Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. It is an evidence-based minimum set of items for reporting in systematic reviews and meta-analyses. The aim of the PRISMA Statement is to help authors improve the reporting of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. PRISMA can also be used as a basis for reporting literature reviews for other types of research.

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SMIRK - using PRISMA by Marion Kelt and Larissa Kempenaar, GCU and The PRISMA Statement is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.prisma-statement.org/index.htm.

# How does it work?

There is a PRISMA Statement which is a 27-item checklist and a four-phase flow diagram. The website contains the current definitive version of the PRISMA Statement.

The easiest way to use PRISMA is to download the PRISMA flow diagram as a word document to your computer and edit it to list the databases used and the number of references retrieved. If you go through it updating each part of the diagram, then it will give a logical description of the steps you have taken to complete your literature review. The next pages tell you how to fill in the flow diagram in more detail.

If you want to go in to more detail, then you can download and use the 27-item checklist.

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SMIRK - using PRISMA by Marion Kelt and Larissa Kempenaar, GCU and The PRISMA Statement is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.prisma-statement.org/index.htm.

# Filling in PRISMA

Step 1: Preparation To complete the the PRISMA diagram print out a copy of the diagram to use alongside your searches. It is most efficient to search databases individually, so print out a copy for each database searched, plus a copy for the totals. If you are using this system for a more advanced assignment, such as a thesis, ask your supervisor whether they would like you to follow this system, or to specify totals for each database in your final PRISMA diagram.

Step 2: Doing the database search For each database enter each key search term individually. This should include ALL your search terms, including MeSH or CINAHL headings, truncation (like hempileg*) and wildcard (like sul?ur) search terms.
Combine all the search terms in the different combinations using boolean operators like AND OR as appropriate. Apply all your limits (such as years of search, full-text only, English language only and so on).
Once all search terms have been combined and you have applied all relevant limits, you should have a number of records or articles. Enter this in the top left box of the PRISMA flow chart for each database.
If you have searched databases individually, add all the 'records identified' up and fill this total number in the PRISMA flow diagram which you will use for your coursework.
Remember this process of adding up the number of records in individual database searches to a total will need to be repeated at each step if you search databases separately.

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SMIRK - using PRISMA by Marion Kelt and Larissa Kempenaar, GCU and The PRISMA Statement is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.prisma-statement.org/index.htm.

# Filling in PRISMA - 2

Step 3: Additional sources If you have identified articles through other sources than databases (like manual searches through reference lists of articles you have found or search engines like Google Scholar or Mednar), enter the total number of records in the box on the top right of the flow diagram.

Step 4: Remove all duplicates To avoid reviewing duplicate articles, you need to remove any articles that appear more than once. You will need to go through all the records or articles you have found in the database and manually remove any duplicates. This is not easy to do if you have a large number of articles at this point. In this case you may want to export the entire list of articles to RefWorks (including citation and abstract) and remove the duplicates there.
Enter the number of records left after you have removed the duplicates in the second box from the top.

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SMIRK - using PRISMA by Marion Kelt and Larissa Kempenaar, GCU and The PRISMA Statement is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.prisma-statement.org/index.htm.

# Filling in PRISMA - 3

Step 5: Screening articles The next step is to add in the number of articles that you have screened. This is the same number as you have entered in the duplicates removed box.

Step 6: Screening - Excluded articles You will now need to screen the titles and abstracts for articles which are relevant to your research question. Any articles that appear to help you provide an answer to your research question should be included. Record the number of articles excluded based on this screening process in the appropriate box (next to the total number of screened records) with a short reason for excluding these articles.

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SMIRK - using PRISMA by Marion Kelt and Larissa Kempenaar, GCU and The PRISMA Statement is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.prisma-statement.org/index.htm.

# Filling in PRISMA - 4

Step 7: Eligability Subtract the number of excluded articles following the screening phase (step 6) from the total number of records screened (step 5) and enter this number in the box titled "Full-text articles assessed for eligibility". Get the full text for these articles to review for eligibility.

Step 8: Eligability - Records excluded Review all full-text articles for eligibility to be included in the final review. Remember you should be left with 6-8 papers at this point. Take a note of the number of articles that you exclude at this point and enter this number in the correct box titled: Full text articles excluded and write in a short reason for excluding the articles (this may be the same reason used for the screening phase).

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SMIRK - using PRISMA by Marion Kelt and Larissa Kempenaar, GCU and The PRISMA Statement is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.prisma-statement.org/index.htm.

# Filling in PRISMA - 5

Step 9: Included The final step is to subtract the number of excluded articles or records during the eligibility review of full-texts (step 8) from the total number of articles reviewed for eligibility (step 7). The number you now have may vary depanding on the type of assignment you are completing - it should be between 6 and 8 records for the IPE coursework, but could be much more for a full systematic review - check with your tutor!. Enter this number in the final box. You have now completed your PRISMA flow diagram which you can now include in the results section of your assigment.

This is the end of our section on writing a literature review and writing up your search strategy.

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SMIRK - using PRISMA by Marion Kelt and Larissa Kempenaar, GCU and The PRISMA Statement is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.prisma-statement.org/index.htm.