DOI
https://doi.org/10.18849/ve.v10i4.721Abstract
Veterinary medicine advances rapidly, generating extensive amounts of research. Systematic and scoping reviews synthesise evidence to help guide clinical decisions, improve welfare, influence policy, and shape research priorities. Unlike narrative reviews, they employ transparent, rigorous methods. This commentary presents insights from curating VetSRev, a more than a decade-old, freely accessible repository containing an interactive list of published veterinary systematic and scoping reviews. Accessible, high-quality reviews strengthen public and owner trust, improve animal welfare, and promote evidence-based practice. Following established protocols and guidelines ensures quality, visibility, and VetSRev inclusion, thereby disseminating the reviews to users, advancing knowledge, informing research priorities, and enhancing clinical decision-making in veterinary medicine.
References
Aromataris, E., Lockwood, C,, Porritt, K., Pilla, B., Jordan Z, eds. (2024). JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis. JBI. DOI: https://doi.org/10.46658/JBIMES-24-01 [Accessed 11 August 2025].
Bennett, R.C. (2022). Reporting guidelines: has their use improved the quality of reporting in Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia? Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia. 49(1), 4–6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaa.2021.12.003
Campbell Collaboration. (2023). Everything the world knows to solve vital problems in one place, [online]. Available at: https://www.campbellcollaboration.org/ [Accessed 10 October 10, 2023].
Cochrane Library. (2023). About Cochrane reviews, [online]. Available at: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/about/about-cochrane-reviews [Accessed 10 October 2023].
Grindlay, D.J.C., Brennan, M.L. & Dean, R.S. (2012). Searching the Veterinary Literature: A Comparison of the Coverage of Veterinary Journals by Nine Bibliographic Databases. Journal of Veterinary Medical Education. 39(4), 404–12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3138/jvme.1111.109R
Grindlay, D.J.C., Dean, R.S., Christopher, M.M. & Brennan, M.L. (2014). A survey of awareness, knowledge, policies and views of veterinary journal Editors-in-Chief on reporting guidelines for publication of research. BMC Veterinary Research. 10, 10.DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-6148-10-10
Grindlay, D.J.C., Dean, R.S., Morrow L, Brennan, M.L. (2021). About VetSRev. Available at https://vetsrev.nottingham.ac.uk/About-VetSRev.pdf [Accessed: 11 August 2025]
JBI. (2023). EBP Resources. Available at: https://jbi.global/ebp [Accessed 10 October 2023].
Librarian Peer Reviewer Database. (2023). Librarian Peer Reviewer Database, [online]. Available at: https://sites.google.com/view/mlprdatabase/home [Accessed October 10, 2023].
National Institute for Health and Care Research. (2023). PROSPERO: International prospective register of systematic reviews, [online]. Available at: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/ [Accessed 10 October 2023].
O'Connor, A. & Sargeant, J. (2015). Research synthesis in veterinary science: Narrative reviews, systematic reviews and meta-analysis. The Veterinary Journal. 206(3), 261–267. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tvjl.2015.08.025
OSFHOME. (2023). Generalized Systematic Review Registration Form, [online]. Available at: https://osf.io/by27q/ [Accessed 10 October 2023].
Page, M.J., Moher, D., Bossuyt, P.M., Bouttron, I., Hoffman, T.C., Mulrow, C.D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J.M., Akl, E.A., Brennan, S.E., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J.M., Hróbjartsson, A., Lalu, M.M., Li, T., Loder, E.W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., McGuinness, L.A., Stewart, L.A., Thomas, J., Tricco, A.C., Welch, V.A., Whiting, P. & McKenzie, J.E. (2021). PRISMA 2020 explanation and elaboration: updated guidance and exemplars for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ. 372, n160. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n160
Rethlefsen, M.L., Kirtley, S., Waffenschmidt, S., Ayala, A.P., Moher, D., Page, M.J., Koffel, J.B. & PRISMA-S Group. (2021). PRISMA-S: an extension to the PRISMA Statement for Reporting Literature Searches in Systematic Reviews. Systematic Reviews. 10(39). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-020-01542-z
Sargeant, J.M. & O'Connor, A.M. (2020). Scoping Reviews, Systematic Reviews, and Meta-Analysis: Applications in Veterinary Medicine. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 7,11. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2020.00011
Sargeant, J.M., Reynolds, K., Winder, C.B. & O'Connor, A.M. (2021). Completeness of reporting of systematic reviews in the animal health literature: A meta-research study. Preventive Veterinary Medicine. 195, 105472. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2021.105472
Systematic Reviews for Animals & Food. (2023). List Of Protocols, [online]. Available at: https://syreaf.org/protocols/ [Accessed 10 October 2023].
Toews, L.C. (2017). Compliance of Systematic Reviews in Veterinary Journals with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) Literature Search Reporting Guidelines. Journal of the Medical Library Association. 105(3), 233–239. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2017.246
Tramuta-Drobnis E., Rey L.M., Brennan M.L., Cowles B., Crews M.E., Fausak E.D., Marcellin-Little D.J., Whitehead M.L. & Moberly H.K. (2025). Journal instructions to authors submitting veterinary systematic reviews are inconsistent and often inadequate. American Journal of Veterinary Research. 86(4). DOI: https://doi.org/10.2460/ajvr.24.10.0304
Tricco, A.C., Lillie, E., Zarin, W. O’Brien, K.K. Colquhoun, H., Levac, D., Moher, D., Micah, D.J.P., Horsley, T., Weeks, L., Hempel, S., Akl, E.A., Chang, C., McGowan, J., Stewart, L., Hartling, L., Aldcroft, A., Wilson, M.G., Garritty, C., Lewin, S., Godfrey, C.M., Macdonald, M.T., Langlois, E.V., Soares-Weiser, K., Moriarty, J., Clifford, T., Tunҫalp, Ö. & Straus, S.E. (2018). PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and Explanation. Annals of Internal Medicine. 169(7), 467–473. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7326/M18-0850
VetSRev database (Version 2.0). (2021). Available at: https://VetSRev.nottingham.ac.uk/ [Accessed: 11 August 2025].
Winder, C.B., Churchill, K.J., Sargeant, J.M., LeBlanc, S.J., O'Connor, A.M. & Renaud DL. (2019). Invited review: Completeness of reporting of experiments: REFLECTing on a year of animal trials in the Journal of Dairy Science. Journal of Dairy Science. 102(6), 4759–4771. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2018-15797
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Elisa Martello, Lisa Morrow, Heather Moberly, Douglas Grindlay, Marnie Brennan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Veterinary Evidence uses the Creative Commons copyright Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. That means users are free to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format. Remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially - with the appropriate citation.
