#24 Registration & Protocol - Provide registration information for the review, including register name and registration number, or state that the review was not registered. Indicate where the review protocol can be accessed, or state that a protocol was not prepared. Describe and explain any amendments to information provided at registration or in the protocol.
Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions [ebook] by All team members should be involved in creating the Protocol. The team lead should be responsible for registering the protocol and serving as the contact author.
A systematic review protocol describes in advance the rationale, hypothesis, and methods you plan to use in your review. It serves many functions:
The largest and most-used protocol registry for systematic reviews is PROSPERO. PROSPERO includes details of any ongoing systematic review that has a health related outcome in the broadest sense. You can both register your own planned systematic review and search other protocols on their site. Creating an account on the site is required to register your protocol, but not to search other protocols.
There are 22 required (and 18 optional) fields in a PROSPERO registration including
The PROSPERO record should be updated periodically as the review proceeds to indicate progress.
Protocol registries were developed in response to an increasing number of systematic reviews being written, increasing the likelihood of duplication of reviews. Additionally, systematic reviews may be selective in reporting their outcomes when their hypothesis was not confirmed, leading to an absence of negative results.
Registering your protocol will:
Registering your protocol will not:
References: