7.3.4 Background

The background section of the review protocol and systematic review should be comprehensive and consider the main elements of the topic under review. Many reviewers will find that the background provided with the protocol needs modification or extension following the conduct of the review proper. The background should detail any definitions important to the review. The information in the background section must be sufficient to put the review inclusion criteria into context and also highlight the importance and relevance of the topic for the reader and a clear basis for the rationale to pursue the review topic. The background section should conclude with a statement that a preliminary search for previous systematic reviews on the topic was conducted (state the sources searched e.g. JBI Evidence Synthesis, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PubMed, PROSPERO). If there is a previous systematic review on the topic, it should be specified how the proposed review differs. All JBI systematic reviews should contain a sentence clearly stating: 

“The objectives, inclusion criteria and methods of analysis for this review were specified in advance and documented in an a priori protocol. Ref” (Reference should be to the appropriate citation in the JBI Evidence Synthesis, and provide registration number in PROSPERO where applicable).

This sentence should appear as the final line of the background/introduction section of the review report and complies with the recommendations for reporting of systematic reviews detailed in the PRISMA guidelines.