Systematic reviews require time and effort to complete. It should not be expected to be complete a systematic review in a matter of months. An average time to complete a systematic review is between 12-18 months. The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions suggests the following timeline to complete a review:
|
Month |
Activity |
|---|---|
|
1 - 2 |
Preparation of protocol |
|
3 - 8 |
Searches for published & unpublished studies |
|
2 - 3 |
Pilot test of eligibility criteria |
|
3 - 8 |
Inclusion assessments |
|
3 |
Pilot test of ‘Risk of bias’ assessment |
|
3 - 10 |
Validity assessments |
|
3 |
Pilot test of data collection |
|
3 - 10 |
Data collection |
|
3 - 10 |
Data entry |
|
5 - 11 |
Follow up of missing information |
|
8 - 10 |
Analysis |
|
1 - 11 |
Preparation of review report |
|
12 - |
Keeping the review up-to-date |
Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions Version 5.1.0 [updated March 2011]. The Cochrane Collaboration, 2011. Available from https://training.cochrane.org/handbook/current