7.3.1 Title of the systematic review

The title should be clear, explicit and reflect the core elements of the question. It should be as informative and descriptive as is reasonable, reflecting the scope and type of systematic review to be undertaken. The title should not be phrased as a question or conclusion and there should be congruency between the title, review objectives/questions and inclusion criteria. The title should include the phrase “…: a systematic review protocol” in a review protocol and “…: a systematic review” in a review report.

Although a range of mnemonics have been described for different types of review (and research) questions, if, for example the review aims to examine etiology of disease or risk of a health outcome, this should, as much as possible, be stated clearly in the title of the document. If specific exposure/s and/or patient outcomes are to be examined these should also be included in the title. For example: “Long-term topical corticosteroid use and risk of skin cancer: a systematic review protocol” (Ratib, Burden-Teh et al. 2016). This example provides potential readers of the review with a clear indication of the population, the exposure (corticosteroid use), and the outcome (incidence of skin cancer) of interest, as well as that it is a systematic review protocol.