How to Conduct and Publish Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses

“This was an excellent, informative, and engaging workshop.”

“Very organized course—it is very hard to condense that much information in a very limited time and teach such a diverse group of people. Speakers are very knowledgeable, energetic, willing to teach, and very patient.”

“It is obvious that each of [the speakers] have put a lot of work into [their] topics and [their] efforts paid off. [The] presentations were excellent and helped to put together a great 2½ days.”

“Hands-down the BEST course I’ve had.”

In a world where clinicians and patients are drowning in information, high-quality evidence summaries that follow a systematic approach to identify, select, appraise, and synthesize the research landscape have become an essential tool for clinical decision-making. Unfortunately, many systematic reviews lack the rigor needed to provide trustworthy evidence, and carrying out such research on one's own requires mastery of a number of methodological and statistical strategies.

The purpose of this interactive workshop is to arm clinicians and researchers with the skills they need to better understand primary studies and the principles of the systematic review methodology—skills that will make it possible to effectively conduct and publish high-quality systematic reviews of therapeutic interventions.

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Understand the importance of evidence summaries.
• Understand the methodology for conducting systematic reviews.
• Participate and interact with a librarian in the creation of search strategies.
• Create a research question and define outcomes for a review.
• Use software to conduct screening, data extraction, and analysis.
• Assess risk of bias of randomized controlled trials.
• Implement meta-analytic techniques and interpret main summary estimates.
• Use the GRADE approach to assess the quality of evidence.
• Understand how to effectively structure a manuscript.
• Understand how journal editors prioritize scientific articles.
• Appropriately respond to peer review comments.
• Avoid typical mistakes researchers make when reporting their findings.
• Consider the application of research in clinical scenarios.

• Attendees will earn 18 continuing education (CE) credits from the ADA.*
• Space is limited, and spots will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis.
• Of note for international applicants: The course is offered only in the English language; no simultaneous interpretation is provided.

*The American Dental Association is an ADA CERP Recognized Provider.

ADA CERP is a service of the American Dental Association to assist dental professionals in identifying quality providers of continuing dental education. ADA CERP does not approve or endorse individual courses or instructors, nor does it imply acceptance of credit hours by boards of dentistry.

The American Dental Association designates this activity for 18 continuing education credits.

• Course tuition is $900 for non-ADA members ($750 for ADA members, who receive a 20% discount).
• Participants are responsible for their travel and housing in Chicago.
• Tuition includes course materials and lunch.
• Please confirm workshop registration before booking travel and lodging.
• Full refunds are possible up to four weeks before workshop. A partial refund of 50% is available after that.

Participants are encouraged to book a hotel room near ADA headquarters, which is located at 211 E Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL 60611.  

A block of discounted rooms have been secured for workshop attendees at the nearby Chicago Ritz-Carlton. Discounted lodging at the Ritz-Carlton is limited, and rooms will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Discounted lodging is also available nearby to ADA members through the ADA's Chicago Hotel Program. ADA members can click this link for more information about the Chicago Hotel Program, which includes discounted lodging at the following hotels:

• Four Seasons Hotel Chicago
• Hilton Suites Chicago Magnificent Mile
• Hyatt Centric Chicago Magnificent Mile
• InterContinental Chicago Hotel Magnificent Mile
• Ritz-Carlton Chicago
• W Chicago - Lakeshore
• Westin Michigan Avenue

Romina Brignardello-Petersen, D.D.S., M.Sc., Ph.D., is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact at McMaster University as well as a lecturer in the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Chile. She holds a master's degree in biostatistics from the University of Chile. Dr. Brignardello-Petersen is associate editor for the Journal of the American Dental Association series Clinical Scans. She is also the author and coauthor of numerous publications, including the Journal of the American Dental Association series “A Practical Approach to Evidence-Based Dentistry."

Alonso Carrasco-Labra, D.D.S., M.Sc., Ph.D., is a dentist who obtained his D.D.S. from the University of Chile. He also obtained a master's degree in clinical epidemiology from McMaster University. Currently he is a Ph.D. candidate in Health Research Methodology at the same institution, under the supervision of Dr. Gordon Guyatt. Since 2015, Dr. Carrasco-Labra has served as director of the ADA Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry. He is a member of the Cochrane Patient Reported Outcome Methods Group, Applicability and Recommendation Methods Group, Wounds Group, the Oral Health Group, and the GRADE Working Group. Dr. Carrasco-Labra is an author of a series of 10 articles published in the Journal of the American Dental Association titled “A Practical Approach to Evidence-Based Dental Practice" and is a co-author of the Users' Guide to the Medical Literature (3rd edition, JAMA).

Michael Glick, D.M.D., serves as the editor of the Journal of the American Dental Association, a position he has held since 2005. He is professor and past dean of the School of Dental Medicine at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. Dr. Glick has authored more than 300 journal publications, book chapters, and editorials, and he has edited and co-edited 10 books.

Kelly O’Brien, M.L.I.S., is an informationist at the ADA Library and Archives. In this role, she provides expert searching and reference assistance to ADA members and staff, including in the development of systematic reviews and clinical practice guidelines. She holds a master of library and information science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Lauren Pilcher, M.S.P.H., is a research assistant at the Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry, where she specializes in clinical practice guideline methodology and evidence synthesis. She holds a master of science in public health from Meharry Medical College.

Malavika Tampi, M.P.H., is a manager at the ADA Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry. She has been with the ADA since 2013, and in her current role, she leads the team in systematic review and clinical practice guideline methodology. She has authored three systematic reviews and three clinical practice guidelines and is looking forward to collaborating on an upcoming systematic review with Cochrane Oral Health. She is a member of the GRADE Working Group and the Guidelines International Network and holds a master of public health from the University of Michigan. 

Olivia Urquhart, M.P.H., is a research assistant at the ADA Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry, where she specializes in clinical practice guideline methodology and evidence synthesis. She is a member of the GRADE Working Group and the Guidelines International Network and holds a master of public health in epidemiology from Emory University.

For more information about this workshop, contact the ADA Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry at ebd@ada.org.