Language restriction

This problem is addressed in AMSTAR 2 (Q4), ROBIS (P2 D1) and MECIR (C19). Restricting included papers based on the language of publication is a common abbreviation is systematic review methodology. However it is possible that relevant studies published in other languages are missed and this could limit the generalisability of the review.

Articles that support this problem:

Quality of urological systematic reviews registered in PROSPERO

2019 : Bju international

How Often Do Systematic Reviews Exclude Articles Not Published in English?

2019 : Journal of general internal medicine

Heterogeneity in search strategies among Cochrane acupuncture reviews: is there room for improvement?

2010 : Acupuncture in medicine

Language of publication restrictions in systematic reviews gave different results depending on whether the intervention was conventional or complementary

2005 : Journal of clinical epidemiology

Quality assessment of systematic reviews on alveolar ridge preservation

2013 : Journal of the american dental association

Excluding non-English publications from evidence-syntheses did not change conclusions: a meta-epidemiological study

2020 : Journal of clinical epidemiology

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of traditional Chinese medicine must search Chinese databases to reduce language bias

2013 : Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine

Methodological quality of meta-analyses on treatments for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a cross-sectional study using the AMSTAR (Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews) tool

2015 : Npj primary care respiratory medicine

The inclusion of reports of randomised trials published in languages other than English in systematic reviews

2003 : Health technol assess

Systematic reviews with language restrictions and no author contact have lower overall credibility: a methodology study

2015 : Clinical epidemiology

Methodological quality and risk-of-bias assessments in systematic reviews of treatments for peri-implantitis

2019 : Journal of periodontal research

Reporting quality of search methods in systematic reviews of HIV behavioral interventions (2000–2010): are the searches clearly explained, systematic and reproducible?

2014 : Research synthesis methods

Searching additional databases except PubMed are necessary for a systematic review

2008 : Stroke

The prevalence of and factors associated with inclusion of non-English language studies in Campbell systematic reviews: a survey and meta-epidemiological study

2018 : Systematic reviews

Searching practices and inclusion of unpublished studies in systematic reviews of diagnostic accuracy

2020 : Research synthesis methods

Grey literature in systematic reviews: a cross-sectional study of the contribution of non-English reports, unpublished studies and dissertations to the results of meta-analyses in child-relevant reviews

2017 : Bmc medical research methodology

Epidemiology and Reporting Characteristics of Systematic Reviews of Biomedical Research: A Cross-Sectional Study

2016 : Plos medicine

Photodynamic therapy for root canal disinfection in endodontics: an umbrella review

2022 : Lasers in medical science

An analysis of data sources and study registries used in systematic reviews

2022 : World views on evidence based nursing

Restrictions and their reporting in systematic reviews of effectiveness: an observational study

2022 : Bmc medical research methodology