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Family Medicine

Explore library resources for Family Medicine at McMaster.

Systematic Reviews & Synopses of Systematic Reviews

Synopsis: A structured critical appraisal of an article.  Synopses exist for both single studies and systematic reviews.

Purpose of a Systematic Review: "A systematic review identifies an intervention for a specific disease or other problem in health care, and determines whether or not this intervention works. To do this authors locate, appraise and synthesize evidence from as many relevant scientific studies as possible. They summarize conclusions about effectiveness, and provide a unique collation of the known evidence on a given topic, so that others can easily review the primary studies for any intervention." (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews)

The Cochrane Library includes the following resources:

  • Cochrane Systematic Reviews
  • Clinical Trials Registry
  • Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effect (Synopses of Systematic Reviews)
  • Methodology Studies
  • Technology Assessments
  • Economic Evaluations

Synopses of Articles - Critically Appraised Articles

Critically Appraised Primary Research Articles

  • The ACCESSSS search includes PLUS Systematic Reviews and PLUS Articles, which are critical synopses of the literature. PLUS articles and reviews are created by the McMaster Health Knowledge Refinery