About Us

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KSR Evidence has been developed by Kleijnen Systematic Reviews Ltd (KSR), an independent research company that produces and disseminates systematic reviews, cost-effectiveness analyses and health technology assessments of research evidence in healthcare.

KSR Evidence has been developed with the aim of helping users make sense of the ever-increasing volume and complexity of evidence, and provides a user-friendly, time-efficient way to access systematic reviews in healthcare. The database includes all systematic reviews and meta-analyses of all health topic areas published since 2015 (some topics date back from 2010), and for many reviews we provide a short, accessible bottom line which gives the key clinically relevant implications of the results reported in the review and includes information about the reliability of these results.


Methods

We have developed sensitive and advanced search strategies to identify systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Our searches encompass a large number of databases including Medline, Embase and the Cochrane Library. The results are checked by our team of information specialists, and any record that may be a systematic review is then assessed based on the full paper by a systematic reviewer. Articles are included if they claim to be either a systematic review or a meta-analysis, or if the methods used in the paper are those of a systematic review.

Systematic reviews are critically appraised using criteria based on the Risk of Bias Assessment Tool ROBIS. We use an adapted version of this tool to enable us to provide the necessary summary information which will be useful to busy healthcare professionals, researchers, and other end users. The risk of bias tool looks at four domains

  • Study eligibility criteria
  • Identification and selection of studies
  • Data collection and study appraisal
  • Synthesis and findings

From these domains we provide an overall summary of the risk of bias and a bottom line. The bottom line will inform users whether or not the review has been conducted in line with accepted methods of undertaking systematic reviews and if the evidence is reliable.

KSR Evidence was designed to provide enough information for a decision to be made on whether to obtain the full paper or not, and therefore saves the time taken to conduct a search, filter the results, and read the papers to extract the main information. All critical appraisals are written by one reviewer and checked by a second reviewer.

Users can follow links within the database, or use the citation provided in order to obtain a copy of the full published paper for their own research.

The database is updated on a monthly basis.


Fast Track Assessment

Given that 18,000+ systematic reviews are currently published per annum, we continually add assessments but it is not possible to do this for all of them. If no assessment is available, KSR Evidence gives subscribers the option to request a fast track assessment of any review for a nominal administrative fee of £25.


Feedback

KSR Evidence was developed to provide an easy to search resource with usable summary information on systematic reviews and meta-analyses, suitable for information specialists, guideline developers, pharmaceutical companies, healthcare professionals or any user who may need professional, robust and transparent searching for systematic reviews. 

We are working continuously on improving our services and your feedback is of great value to us. If you wish to make a comment, please email ksrevidence@systematic-reviews.com.