ABSTRACT
Systematic reviews involve the application of scientific methods to reduce bias in review of literature. The key components of a systematic review are a well-defined research question, comprehensive literature search to identify all studies that potentially address the question, systematic assembly of the studies that answer the question, critical appraisal of the methodological quality of the included studies, data extraction and analysis (with and without statistics), and considerations towards applicability of the evidence generated in a systematic review. These key features can be remembered as six ‘A’; Ask, Access, Assimilate, Appraise, Analyze and Apply. Meta-analysis is a statistical tool that provides pooled estimates of effect from the data extracted from individual studies in the systematic review. The graphical output of meta-analysis is a forest plot which provides information on individual studies and the pooled effect. Systematic reviews of literature can be undertaken for all types of questions, and all types of study designs. This article highlights the key features of systematic reviews, and is designed to help readers understand and interpret them. It can also help to serve as a beginner’s guide for both users and producers of systematic reviews and to appreciate some of the methodological issues.
ABSTRACT
This survey included 59 secondary researches of traditional pharmaceutical patent literatures. The analysis was made on statistical indicator of the amount of annual papers, authors, institutions, published journals and re-search contents. The survey revealed that in the field of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the number of sec-ondary research of patent literature was on the increase, and the degree of concern of TCM patent was far more than others. This survey not only assisted the understanding of current condition of TCM patent literatures, but also held its development trend in order to apply it in the studies.