Living Systematic Review Services
Pubrica keeps systematic reviews current after publication. Our information specialists and subject matter experts run living systematic reviews for guideline groups, HTA bodies, public health teams and life-science companies whose question is a priority, whose answer is unsettled and where trials are still reporting. The service covers a baseline systematic review, monthly searching, updates on a schedule agreed in advance, and a version history that can be audited. It is a retained service rather than a single document.
- Searched monthly, across the bibliographic databases and trial registries named in the strategy, as Cochrane living review guidance sets out
- Updated on a rule agreed in advance: either when new evidence could change the conclusion, or at a fixed interval where publication volume is high
- Suitability assessed against three conditions before work starts: the question is a priority, the answer is unsettled, and new evidence is expected
- Version control with a change log, so readers know which version they used and what has changed since
- Agreed stopping criteria, reviewed annually so that the review leaves living mode when it is no longer needed
Monthly searching of named sourcesIncluded
Screening of everything the search returnsIncluded
Updates on the declared ruleIncluded
Version history and change logIncluded
Continuing after stopping criteria are metNot included; we advise stopping
Baseline → monthly search → screened → triggered → new version
- Monthly searching, recorded
- Update rule set before it starts
- Every version dated and archived
- Change log a reader can follow
- Annual test of whether it should continue
Service Scope
Four Living Systematic Review Service Areas, Available Individually
Each component of a living systematic review can be commissioned separately, whether you are starting from a research question or taking over an existing review.
Who we serve
Researchers and Organisations We Support with Living Systematic Reviews
We support organisations that rely on current evidence for guideline, policy, reimbursement, product and research decisions.
Deliverables
Four Deliverables Included in Every Living Review
Monthly searching is only part of the service. Each living review also includes rules, agreed in advance, for deciding when new evidence justifies a new version.
From the scoping callMost topics fail at least one condition. Where yours does, we will recommend a systematic review with a planned update in two years instead of a retainer.
From the protocolThere are no established numerical thresholds for triggering an update, so the rule is agreed with you in advance instead of being decided each month by the screening team.
From the change logWithout a version history, a living review changes without notice, which is less useful to a decision-maker than a review that is openly out of date.
From the annual reviewBecause continuing a retainer is in our commercial interest, this annual test is written into the agreement from the start.
Samples are illustrative and anonymised. Hover over a sample to replay it.
Compliance and Standards
Living Systematic Review Reporting and Methodological Standards
A living review must meet systematic review standards and the requirements of its maintenance protocol.
Cochrane Handbook (and methods group guidance)
The conduct reference for systematic reviews, with the Rapid Reviews Methods Group interim guidance and the living systematic review guidance for the two variants that depart from it deliberately.
PRISMA 2020 (review reporting)
The reporting standard for systematic reviews: the flow of records, the search reproducibility, and the studies excluded at full text with a reason for each.
PRISMA-S (search reporting)
The 2021 search extension to PRISMA 2020. Its sixteen items cover where, how and when you searched and what you found, so that the search can be reproduced.
Quality management (cert. H3CR9TCU20251212INDQM10N)
Our quality management system covers how work is run, recorded and released.
Responsible Use of AI
Responsible Use of AI and Disclosure Across Review Updates
Automation tools are useful when a search is re-run every month. They also need careful disclosure, because the tool is used at every update while the methods section is written once.
Why We Do Not Publish AI Accuracy Figures
Accuracy figures for AI tools are usually reported by the companies that sell them.
Pubrica does not quote a self-generated accuracy figure, because it would carry the same conflict of interest. Instead, we tell you which tool was used on your project, at which stage, and what a reviewer changed afterwards.
Methodology
How a Living Systematic Review Project Works
Each project begins with a standard systematic review. The later stages cover maintenance after the first version is published.
Suitability assessment and baseline review
We test the three conditions and then conduct a full baseline systematic review that is registered, dual screened and reported to PRISMA 2020.
Maintenance protocol
The search cadence, update trigger, versioning convention and stopping criteria are agreed in writing before the first update is due.
Monthly search cycle
Databases and registries are searched monthly, new records are screened, and the result is recorded whether or not it triggers an update.
New versions and annual review
A new version with a change log is published when the update rule is met, and each year we assess whether the review should remain living.
Our experts
Your Living Systematic Review Team
Your project is handled by a named team rather than an allocated pool. The same team stays with the project from scoping to delivery, and your project coordinator introduces each member before work begins.
Develops and documents the literature search. Writes the search strategy line by line for each platform and delivers it dated and reproducible.
Determines what the evidence can support. Matched to your topic, and tells you plainly when the evidence does not support the conclusion you expected.
Screens and extracts independently of the first reviewer and reconciles the results, because most errors in this work are transcription errors. Disagreements are logged and adjudicated.
Responsible for the statistical analysis. Confirms before analysis whether the data can answer the question, and delivers the code so that the analysis can be reproduced independently.
Pricing
Living Systematic Review Packages and Pricing
Living systematic reviews are priced as a subscription. The baseline is priced as a systematic review, and a retainer covers the ongoing searching, screening and updates.
Baseline Systematic Review
The first version of the review
Quoted per projectPriced as a systematic review
Delivery By scope
- ✓Suitability tested against the three conditions
- ✓Full systematic review conducted
- ✓Protocol registered
- ✓Dual screening and risk of bias
- ✓PRISMA 2020 reporting
- ✓Maintenance protocol agreed at handover
The baseline is a standard systematic review and is priced as one. It must be completed before maintenance can begin.
Deliverables Request a quoteMonthly cadence
Fast-moving fields
Quoted per projectRetained, quoted on search volume
Delivery Monthly search
- ✓Monthly search of databases and registries
- ✓All new records screened
- ✓Update published when the rule fires
- ✓Change log maintained
- ✓Quarterly summary of what did not trigger
- ✓Annual suitability test
Suited to topics where a single trial can change the conclusion. Most COVID-era living reviews used this cadence.
Deliverables Request a quoteFixed-interval cadence
Steady fields with high volume
Quoted per projectRetained, quoted on interval
Delivery Every four or six months
- ✓Monthly search, batched screening
- ✓Update published on the interval regardless
- ✓Change log maintained
- ✓Conclusion movement flagged between versions
- ✓Annual suitability test
Costs less than monthly publication and suits fields where evidence arrives steadily rather than through single decisive studies.
Deliverables Request a quoteSend us your question and we will assess it against the three conditions at no cost. If it does not meet one of them, we will tell you, because a systematic review with a planned update is often the better option and costs less.
Benefits
Benefits of a Pubrica Living Systematic Review
The main reasons organisations commission a living systematic review.
Quality Assurance
Our Service Commitments and Limitations
Our terms are set out in full below, before you commit to a project.
The Pubrica guarantee
Revision Support Until Agreed Requirements Are Met
We continue working on the deliverable within the agreed scope until it meets the agreed requirements. We offer continued revision rather than a refund, because a refund ends the engagement without delivering the work.
01
Unlimited revisions within the agreed scope
There is no limit on revision rounds and no time limit. If the work does not meet what we agreed, we revise it. Any widening of scope is quoted separately, and we confirm which applies before work starts.
02
Corrections at our cost
If work needs correcting because of an error in something we ran or wrote, we correct it free of charge.
03
Delivered on the date agreed
We quote a date we can meet. If a milestone is at risk, we tell you early.
04
Mutual NDA on request
Signed in both directions before you send any material, at no cost. We are happy to sign your NDA rather than requiring ours.
05
Final decisions remain with you
We advise, give our view and tell you clearly when we disagree. You decide what is published in your name.
Average client rating
From 3,000 responses to Pubrica’s own post-delivery survey, sent to every client at handover, January 2024 to June 2026. The figure comes from our own records.
Service limitations. We cannot guarantee outcomes decided by others, such as an editor’s decision, a funder’s panel or a regulator’s assessment. Within the agreed scope, we guarantee the work: completed to the standards named on this page, delivered on the agreed date, and corrected at our cost if we made an error.
FAQs
Living Systematic Review FAQs
If your question is not answered here, please ask an expert. No quote is required.
Monthly, across the bibliographic databases and trial registries named in the search strategy. Grey literature and other sources are usually searched less often, and the schedule for each is stated in the protocol.
Monthly searching does not mean monthly publication. In most months the search finds nothing that meets the update trigger, and that result is recorded.
According to the rule agreed at the start: either when evidence arrives that could change the conclusion, or at a fixed interval.
There are no established numerical thresholds for this in the methods literature, which is why the rule is set in advance rather than decided case by case.
When any of the three conditions no longer holds: the question stops being a priority, the answer becomes settled, or new research stops arriving. We assess this annually and report the result to you.
A living review that is no longer needed is an ongoing cost without a reader, and we will recommend ending it.
Usually. We assess whether the original search is reproducible and the protocol adequate, and tell you what must be rebuilt before the review can be maintained.
If the original search cannot be re-run, the baseline review has to be redone.
Yes. Living systematic reviews are published in journals that support versioning, and in the Cochrane Library.
Where your target journal does not support versioned publication, the review can still run as a living evidence service internally, with periodic publications drawn from it.
Related services
Related Research Services
Services that provide the baseline for a living review, faster review types, and evidence reviews for submissions.
1BASELINE REVIEWthe starting point
Systematic reviewProvides the first version of the review. Meta-analysisPooled analysis updated at each version.2FASTER REVIEW TYPESfor shorter timelines
Rapid reviewEvidence for a single decision on a deadline. Scoping reviewMaps the evidence before a full review.Request a Free Suitability Assessment for a Living Review
If your question does not meet one of the three conditions, we will recommend a systematic review with a planned update, which costs less than a retainer.