Systematic reviews with meta-analysis: Why, when, and how?

Abstract

Systematic reviews with meta-analysis represent the gold standard for conducting reliable and transparent reviews of the literature. The purpose of this article is threefold: (a) to address why and when it is worthwhile to conduct a systematic review with meta-analysis, covering advantages of this approach in the context of the statistics reform in the behavioral sciences; (b) to explain how to conduct and publish a systematic review with meta-analysis, describe the main steps, and suggest best practices for each of them; and (c) to discuss the relevance of conducting a systematic review with meta-analysis for the emerging adulthood field, suggesting how this approach can be applied to address research questions about the specificity of this period. In addressing these issues, a fictitious systematic review with meta-analysis aimed at examining gender differences in the view of emerging adulthood as a period of exploration, instability, self-focus, feeling-in-between, and possibilities is presented. Furthermore, individual participant data systematic review with meta-analysis is proposed as an important future direction for conducting reviews within the social sciences.