Table 1 Strengths and weaknesses of piloting systematic reviews prior to full review
From: Routine piloting in systematic reviews—a modified approach?
Advantages | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
Efficient and potentially time-saving when processing large numbers of studies | Not necessary for reviews with small numbers of included studies. |
Greater flexibility for optimally efficient data extraction | Need to have access to most of the potentially eligible studies in order to draw the purposive sample. If the gathering of studies for a review is taking place over a long time period, e.g. months, it might not be possible to identify the sample to start with. |
Can be used in large umbrella overviews (a ‘review of systematic reviews’) | Not necessary for overviews with small numbers of included systematic reviews. |