How can I tell if an article is a systematic review or meta analysis?
A meta-analysis : "Meta-analysis is the estimation of a population effect size by calculating a weighted estimate of that effect across all the obtainable studies of that effect."
A systematic review : "A systematic review is a summary of research results (evidence) that uses explicit and reproducible methods to systematically search, critically appraise, and synthesize on a specific issue. It synthesizes the results of multiple primary studies related to each other by using strategies that reduce biases and errors."
The title will (often, not always) say if it is a systematic review or meta analysis. The research methodology section will also describe the meta-analytical or systematic review methods used to conduct the review of previous primary studies.
Carpenter, C. J. (2017). Meta-Analysis. In M. Allen (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods (Vol. 3, pp. 979-983). SAGE Reference. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX7191000333/GVRL?u=uiuc_eiu&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=004981fa
McEwan, B. (2017). Literature Review, The. In M. Allen (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods (Vol. 2, pp. 875-877). SAGE Reference. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX7191000296/GVRL?u=uiuc_eiu&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=7078f95e
Systematic review. (2025). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Systematic_review&oldid=1271014363
Pierce, J. (n.d.). Research Guides: Evidence Synthesis and Systematic Reviews: Common Review Types. Retrieved February 17, 2025, from https://guides.temple.edu/c.php?g=78618&p=9548660
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