Literature review services
Do you need assistance with your systematic review? The Library offers support with methodology, literature searches and search documentation.
Systematic and scoping reviews
A systematic review is a literature review which, through a transparent process, seeks to identify, value, select and compile all available research within a clearly defined topic or research question. A systematic review attempts to be an exhaustive literature search within a specific topic where all results are considered.
In a scoping review, the same types of literature searches and search documentation are used as in a systematic review. The purpose of a scoping review is often to provide an overview of the available research and identify central themes.
Read more about systematic reviews in our research guide
Book guidance or request a librarian designed search
If you are planning any type of systematic review, the Library can support you in different ways. You can book guidance or request a librarian designed search.
Guidance for systematic review
If you are a researcher or a PhD student and considering conducting a systematic literature review, you can book guidance with us for advice and assistance.
Booking a guidance session with the Library is free of charge, and you can receive help with the following elements:
- An overview of the process for conducting a systematic review
- Information on how and where to find previous reviews and protocols
- Support in refining your research question, inclusion and exclusion criteria
- Support in formulating a search strategy
- Database recommendations
- Demonstration of advanced search functions in various databases
- Advice on how to document search strategies and results (search tables and PRISMA)
- Information on screening tools
Book a guidance session
A guidance session lasts 45 minutes, and it is not possible to cover all the steps described above in a single session. You can book multiple guidance sessions for the same project.
Book guidance for systematic search/scoping review
Bachelor’s and Master’s students are referred to book an appointment with a librarian in their subject area.
Librarian designed search
We offer librarian designed searches for systematic reviews or scoping reviews for employees, researchers, and doctoral students at Uppsala University. Each assignment costs SEK 30,000, and invoicing takes place when the final search is delivered, but prior to any update search conducted in preparation for publication..
Project initiated before 1 May 2026 will not be invoiced. Searches delivered by the Library before 1 May 2026 that require updating prior to publication will also not be invoiced.
We conduct systematic searches for staff employed by Region Uppsala and Region Gotland. This service will continue to be free of charge in accordance with current agreements between the Library and the regions.
The list describes what is included in the literature search service; elements that differ from guidance is marked in bold.
- Overview of the process for conducting a systematic review
- Information on how and where to find previous reviews and protocols
- Support in refining the research question, inclusion and exclusion criteria
- Design of search strategy, in consultation with the client
- Review of the search strategy by a second librarian
- Database recommendations
- Adaptation of search strategies across databases
- Searches in selected databases
- Deduplication
- Documentation of search strategies as a search table and documentation of performed steps in a PRISMA flow diagram
- Information on screening tools
- Updating the search prior to publication if the search is at least 6 months old
Please note that time of delivery may vary depending on the request. We can usually deliver literature searches within 3 weeks but more extensive searches require additional time. If we have many requests, your request may be placed in a queue.
Request a librarian designed search
When you request a librarian designed search from us, we would like you to answer a few questions about your subject and the planned search. If you plan to work with a PICO, you can include the PICO in your request.
Fill in the form to request a librarian designed search. Submitting the request form does not commit you to any payment. Once we have received your order, a librarian will invite you to a meeting where we will agree on the details of the assignment. After the meeting, an agreement will be sent to you for signature, after which the literature search service will begin.