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Guideline
. 2020 Jan 16:368:l6890.
doi: 10.1136/bmj.l6890.

Synthesis without meta-analysis (SWiM) in systematic reviews: reporting guideline

Mhairi Campbell  1 , Joanne E McKenzie  2 , Amanda Sowden  3 , Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi  4 , Sue E Brennan  2 , Simon Ellis  5 , Jamie Hartmann-Boyce  6 , Rebecca Ryan  7 , Sasha Shepperd  8 , James Thomas  9 , Vivian Welch  10 , Hilary Thomson  4
Affiliations
Guideline

Synthesis without meta-analysis (SWiM) in systematic reviews: reporting guideline

Mhairi Campbell et al. BMJ. .

Abstract

In systematic reviews that lack data amenable to meta-analysis, alternative synthesis methods are commonly used, but these methods are rarely reported. This lack of transparency in the methods can cast doubt on the validity of the review findings. The Synthesis Without Meta-analysis (SWiM) guideline has been developed to guide clear reporting in reviews of interventions in which alternative synthesis methods to meta-analysis of effect estimates are used. This article describes the development of the SWiM guideline for the synthesis of quantitative data of intervention effects and presents the nine SWiM reporting items with accompanying explanations and examples.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form at www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf and declare: funding for the project as described above; HT is co-ordinating editor for Cochrane Public Health; SVK, SE, JHB, RR, and SS are Cochrane editors; JEM is co-convenor of the Cochrane Statistical Methods Group; JT is a senior editor of the second edition of the Cochrane Handbook; VW is editor in chief of the Campbell Collaboration and an associate scientific editor of the second edition of the Cochrane Handbook; SB is a research fellow at Cochrane Australia; no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

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