Graphical Representation of Overlap for OVErviews: GROOVE tool

Area of Science:

• Medical research methodology
• Evidence-based practice
• Systematic review synthesis

Background:

• Overlapping primary studies in systematic reviews (SRs) pose methodological challenges for overviews.
• Improper assessment of study overlap can lead to misleading findings and indicate duplicated research efforts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce Graphical Representation of Overlap for OVErviews (GROOVE), a user-friendly tool for assessing primary study overlap in systematic reviews.
• To enhance the ease, speed, and clarity of overlap assessment for authors and readers of research overviews.

Main Methods:

• GROOVE utilizes an evidence matrix to calculate the number of included primary studies and SRs.
• It quantifies overlapped and non-overlapped primary studies and provides an overall corrected covered area (CCA) assessment.
• The tool offers detailed pairwise CCA assessment with graphical representation and an optional advanced usage incorporating structural missingness.

Main Results:

• GROOVE provides key metrics: total primary studies and SRs, absolute numbers of overlapped/non-overlapped studies, and overall CCA.
• It facilitates a detailed, graphical assessment of CCA between pairs of SRs.
• The tool streamlines the process of overlap assessment in systematic review overviews.

Conclusions:

• GROOVE offers an improved, user-friendly approach to assessing primary study overlap in systematic review overviews.
• The tool aims to make overlap assessment more efficient and understandable, enhancing the reliability of research synthesis.
• GROOVE is freely available, promoting wider adoption and improved methodological rigor in evidence synthesis.