In general, provided that the research question is interesting and important, there are several benefits of writing a high-quality systematic review, both for you and for the scientific community.

At a personal level, some advantages may include, among others, the following ones: you can study a topic in depth, you are likely to improve your critical thinking skills and you have the opportunity to publish your results. Despite the fact that, from a practical perspective, doing a review of the scientific literature may appear easier than conducting a primary study, do not forget that, if you want to publish a valuable review article, you still need a significant level of individual commitment and team coordination, as well as a robust methodological/research background.

In general, systematic reviews are important not only to guide/inform decision-making and provide a synthesis of available evidence on a topic, but also to identify flaws, biases and gaps in knowledge, and to indicate towards which direction it is worthwhile to prompt further research. In brief, as scientific knowledge rapidly accumulates, it is important to have reliable methodological "tools" for evidence synthesis like systematic reviews.

However, in the last years, there has been a boom in the number of published reviews (the so called "meta-analysis metastasis"), with some research works being redundant, unnecessary and characterized by a poor methodological quality: these ones are some examples of cases in which systematic reviews are useless or even misleading.

In my opinion, for all these reasons, it is important for any scientist and policymaker (regardless of the specific field of interest) to be able to critically evaluate and properly interpret results of review articles, at least at a very basic level, in order to make adequately informed decisions.

This is a good summary of why systematic reviews matter:

https://www.elsevier.com/connect/authors-update/why-systematic-reviews-matter

Additionally, here you are a few interesting readings:

Article The Need for Systematic Reviews of Reasons

Article Reading and interpreting reviews for health professionals: a...

Article Meta-analysis Metastasis

Best wishes for your research!

In general, provided that the research question is interesting and important, there are several benefits of writing a high-quality systematic review, both for you and for the scientific community.

At a personal level, some advantages may include, among others, the following ones: you can study a topic in depth, you are likely to improve your critical thinking skills and you have the opportunity to publish your results. Despite the fact that, from a practical perspective, doing a review of the scientific literature may appear easier than conducting a primary study, do not forget that, if you want to publish a valuable review article, you still need a significant level of individual commitment and team coordination, as well as a robust methodological/research background.

In general, systematic reviews are important not only to guide/inform decision-making and provide a synthesis of available evidence on a topic, but also to identify flaws, biases and gaps in knowledge, and to indicate towards which direction it is worthwhile to prompt further research. In brief, as scientific knowledge rapidly accumulates, it is important to have reliable methodological "tools" for evidence synthesis like systematic reviews.

However, in the last years, there has been a boom in the number of published reviews (the so called "meta-analysis metastasis"), with some research works being redundant, unnecessary and characterized by a poor methodological quality: these ones are some examples of cases in which systematic reviews are useless or even misleading.

In my opinion, for all these reasons, it is important for any scientist and policymaker (regardless of the specific field of interest) to be able to critically evaluate and properly interpret results of review articles, at least at a very basic level, in order to make adequately informed decisions.

This is a good summary of why systematic reviews matter:

https://www.elsevier.com/connect/authors-update/why-systematic-reviews-matter

Additionally, here you are a few interesting readings:

Article The Need for Systematic Reviews of Reasons

Article Reading and interpreting reviews for health professionals: a...

Article Meta-analysis Metastasis

Best wishes for your research!

Michele Antonelli Excellent! You really are an expert!

The systematic review gives

1. The Updated information that discusses the topic

2. The paper references could be dependent as a database for the most important papers that related.

Manuel, I think Michele has answered the question excellently. Without carrying out any more clinical trials we can add valuable advice to clinical health decision making through the use of SLR's. They are at the tip of the research evidence pyramid and any researcher in clinical health should know the format, significance and ideally experience of an SLR.

Being able to give a technically motivated opinion. Clarify your ideas and help others do the same

Manuel, a systematic literature review is necessary when you wish to conduct a thorough, methodical and critical evaluation of already available data with the purpose of synthesising the available materials. By so doing, further insights into and knowledge about the chosen research topic and its related question are enhanced in the selected scientific discipline. Interesting topic for discussion and debate.

John Mendy

Stefano Alice

Kenneth Monaghan Raed H. Ogaili Michele Antonelli Thank you.

Manuel Caingcoy

I saw that a lot many researchers have answered this question. Let me try to answer it in my own way.

There is a way to generate the topic of research. Suppose you are interested about something. You think about that. You read about that. You write about that. You discuss about that. Say, for example, you like baseball as a sport. So you are thinking, reading, writing and discussing about baseball. But all these will not give you a topic of research. If you pursue a systematic review of related literature, you will discover certain areas where researches have been pursued and also discover certain areas where adequate researches have not been pursued. You can take up one of these areas for a research. So systematic review of literature can give you a topic of research on your favorite topic. This process helps you to remain in the line of your interest and research on a related topic.

When you will stay in the line of your interest, trust me at that time a line will get blurred in front of your eyes. You know which line, I am talking about? It is the line between work and play. Your research, your investment of time and energy in that research will not remain a work for you. It will become a play for you. It will become your life.

Hope I have been able to give you a suitable answer.

Thank you.

Best regards,

Anamitra.

Anamitra Roy Wow! Superb! I am amazed with your thoughts about the question. Keep in touch for collaboration if there is anything we can collaborate.

Manuel Caingcoy

Thank you for your appreciation. Surely we shall keep in touch and collaborate for a future research.

Just one line.

For me, an SLR is important since it helps the individual in applying lesser effort in doing the literature search on that particular topic since a recent SLR on a particular topic gives you enough and more knowledge. P.S. Provided the SLR is well written.

Amitabh Bhattacharya noted and thanks

Writing a systematic literature review will enable you to:

- assess your area of research

- position your work in the literature

- explore research gaps

- being sure of not missing essential studies in your area of research

Rami Alkhudary thank you for the intelligent ideas.

Dear Manuel Caingcoy Rami Alkhudary

Thanks for sharing such valuable information. The review is really important to start research in a new direction.

Abdelhameed Ibrahim but this type of review is not preparatory of a study. It is a stand-alone research.

Dear Manuel Caingcoy

I agree with you. I'm just trying to benefit from this type of research to explore new directions in a new research point.