This review is registered with the PROSPERO register of systematic reviews. Click here to be taken to the full PROSPERO record.
Articles published in peer-reviewed academic journal to highlight problems with published systematic reviews
Meta-epidemiological studies of systematic reviews
Methodological or reporting overviews of systematic reviews
Primary analytical studies of systematic reviews
Survey/questionnaires or qualitative studies exploring author opinion or practices in systematic reviews
Grey literature in the form of non-empirical articles published in peer-reviewed academic journals which highlight problems of published systematic reviews including narrative review articles, editorials and commentaries
Articles published in the English language
Excluded from this review
Articles without mention of a problem with published systematic reviews
Articles that discuss theoretical problems in systematic reviews but not in relation to examples in the published literature
Articles which may encompass systematic reviews but where the study’s inclusion criteria were not specific to systematic reviews
Articles of problems with meta-analyses not conducted in the context of a systematic review
Study protocols, books, conference proceedings and PhD theses
Good practice guidelines for systematic reviews or guideline validation studies
Clinical studies or overview systematic reviews which do assess methodological or reporting quality of the systematic reviews included
Studies related to the assessment of the primary included studies rather than the systematic reviews themselves e.g. low GRADE quality
Focus on literature “reviews” but not systematic reviews
