Do Systematic Reviews Require Ethical Approval?

Unlike primary researchers, systematic reviewers do not collect deeply personal, sensitive or confidential information from participants. Systematic reviewers use publicly accessible documents as evidence and are seldom required to seek an institutional ethics approval before commencing a systematic review.

Is ethics approval required for a systematic review?

Because systematic reviews generally do not need ethics committee or institutional review board approval, nor are faced with any of the other multiple obstacles to the conduct of clinical research, they would seem an ideal endeavor for anyone seeking to improve their CV or impact score.

Why do systematic reviews not need ethical approval?

Ethics and dissemination No ethical approval will be needed because data from previous published studies in which informed consent was obtained by primary investigators will be retrieved and analysed.