The Campbell Collaboration's systematic review of school-based anti-bullying interventions does not meet mandatory methodological standards

Ref ID 884
First Author J.H. Littell
Journal SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS
Year Of Publishing 2022
URL https://systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13643-022-01998-1
Keywords • Social care
• Campbell
• Risk of bias
• Low reporting quality
• Publication bias
• Transparency
• Protocols
Problem(s) • Methods not described to enable replication
• Undocumented or unjustified deviations to the review protocol
• Search strategy not provided
• No quality assessment undertaken or reported
• Flawed risk of bias undertaken
• Risk of bias not incorporated into conclusions of review
Article Type Editorial
Article Subtype Comment/letter
First Author Country United States
Checklists • Campbell Collaboration Conduct Standards
Aim A commentary that documents methodological problems in the 2021 Campbell Collaboration update of a Systematic Review on school-based anti-bullying interventions.
Level of Investigation Descriptive
Summary of Findings From a commentary that documents methodological problems in the 2021 Campbell Collaboration update of a systematic review on school-based anti-bullying interventions published in 2021. This commentary highlights the following methodological problems: (1) unexplained deviations from the protocol; (2) inadequate documentation of search strategies; (3) inconsistent reports on the number of included studies; (4) undocumented risk of bias ratings; (5) assessments of selective outcome reporting bias that are not transparent, not replicable, and appear to systematically underestimate risk of bias; (6) unreliable assessments of risk of publication bias; (7) use of a composite scale that conflates distinct risks of bias; and (8) failure to consider issues related to the strength of the evidence and risks of bias in interpreting results and drawing conclusions.
Number of systematic reviews included 1
Number of eligible systematic reviews assessed 1
Treatment impacted No
Treatment impacted description
Interpretation impacted Not Applicable
Interpretation impacted description