Systematic and Other Reviews: Criteria and Complexities

Review articles can be extremely valuable. They synthesize information for readers and often provide clarity and valuable insights into a topic; and good review articles tend to be cited frequently. Review articles do not require institutional review board (IRB) approval if the data reviewed are public (including private and government databases) and if the articles reviewed have received IRB approval previously. However, some institutions require IRB review and exemption for review articles. Therefore, authors should be familiar with their institution's policy. In assessing and interpreting review articles, it is important to understand the article's methodology, scholarly purpose, and credibility. Many readers, and some journal reviewers, are not aware that there are different kinds of review articles with different definitions, criteria, and academic impact.[1] To understand the importance and potential application of a review article, it is valuable for readers and reviewers to be able to classify review articles correctly.

Copyright Statement

Copyright © 2021 by Cambridge University Press, Elsevier, Inc., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Karger Publishers, KeAi, SAGE Publishing, Thieme Medical Publishers, Wolters Kluwer. All rights reserved.

Publication History

Article published online:
19 May 2021

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