Course

Systematic Review Methods: The Essential Workflow

6 lessons 0 enrolled

Course overview

A compact guide to the decisions behind a transparent systematic review, from a focused question to a documented synthesis plan.

Learning outcomes

Translate a focused question into clear eligibility criteria.
Recognize the purpose of searching, screening and extraction records.
Explain why risk of bias and synthesis decisions require more than a reporting checklist.

Curriculum

A focused question and review scope.
Eligibility criteria and a simple protocol outline.
Search concepts and a transparent search record.
Screening decisions and duplicate handling.
Extraction checks and risk of bias.
Worked example: make one defensible inclusion decision.

Practical output

Draft a short eligibility checklist and justify one inclusion or exclusion decision from supplied abstracts.

Course information

Practice uses synthetic or appropriately authorized material. Course materials remain available for three months after completion. Contact us with questions; we respond within 72 hours. This response window is not a grading or manuscript-review deadline. Publication, authorship, and funding are not guaranteed.

Who it is for: Students and researchers preparing to join or begin a review.
Teaching format: Planned light self-paced course: six short lessons, one small practice exercise, and a self-check. Estimated learning time: 2–3 hours; proposed estimate subject to faculty confirmation. Individual mentorship is not included.
Languages: Email info@medrcenter.org to confirm the teaching and support languages for this course.
Prerequisites: Basic familiarity with research questions and study designs.

01
Research design and integrity
Research questions, study designs, epidemiology, bias and confounding, ethics and study planning.
You produce: A research planning worksheet: population, exposure, outcome, chosen design and likely sources of bias.
02
Data preparation and analysis
Data dictionaries, cleaning logs, missing values, descriptive statistics, linear and logistic regression.
You produce: A cleaning log and result note: a model fitted in Jamovi on synthetic data, interpreted with its limitations.
03
Evidence synthesis
Literature searching, systematic-review planning, screening, extraction, forest plots and heterogeneity.
You produce: A review decision record: eligibility criteria, a screening decision and a value traced to its source.
04
Writing and communicating research
Critical appraisal, manuscript structure, tables and figures, reporting checklists, responding to reviewers.
You produce: An appraisal or manuscript outline: question, methods, main result and limitations in a clear structure.

Simulation lab previews

Prepared learning tools that make each decision in a research workflow visible. Availability is stated per course.

Preview
Jamovi Simulation Lab
Guided analysis setups with synthetic data: check variables, choose a comparison or regression, interpret the output.
Preview
Systematic Review Lab
From question and protocol to screening decisions and source-verified data extraction.
Preview
Meta Analysis Studio
Choose a synthesis model, read forest plots and heterogeneity, and compare sensitivity results.

LLM-supported learning

You learn to use large language models the way researchers should: ask a question, inspect the answer, then verify the reasoning or calculation against the course material. AI is a learning aid, never a substitute for checking your work.

Example prompt to examine

“Suggest alternative terms for the population and outcome in this research question. Separate keywords from possible controlled-vocabulary terms.”

Check whether the terms preserve the intended question.
Verify controlled-vocabulary terms in the database.
Test the search and document the exact query.

When do I get access after paying?

Payment is processed securely by Stripe. Our team then confirms your enrollment and you get an email at your account address as soon as the course is unlocked.

How long can I use the course materials?

Course materials stay available for three months after you complete the course. Your dashboard shows the exact date.

What is the $20 AI allowance?

$20 of the course price covers LLM/AI usage for your course work, such as asking questions and checking explanations against the course material. It is part of the one-time course price, not a subscription.

Is Research Support included?

No. Research Support is a separate, optional monthly service for one-to-one consultation, available to enrolled students. You never need it to complete the course.

I have a question before enrolling.

Systematic Review Methods: The Essential Workflow

What you study and produce

Research design and integrity

Data preparation and analysis

Evidence synthesis

Writing and communicating research

Simulation lab previews

Jamovi Simulation Lab

Systematic Review Lab

Meta Analysis Studio

LLM-supported learning

Curriculum

Faculty

Before you enroll