The time to complete a systematic review can vary. Expectations include between 6 to 24 months. Recently Schmidt, Olorisade, McGuinness, Thomas & Higgins (2020) noted the average time to publication of a review is 67 months.
The Cochrane Collaboration noted:
"The amount of time required will vary, depending on the topic, the number of studies, the methods used (e.g., the extent of efforts to obtain unpublished information), the experience of the authors, and the types of support provided by the editorial team. The workload associated with undertaking a review is thus very variable" (p. 26).
Source: The Cochrane Collaboration. (2006). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions 4.2.6. Retrieved from https://training.cochrane.org/handbook/archive/v4.2.6
After the initial meeting with one of the librarians, they will work with you to determine the searching. This will vary based upon tier of service and type of question. The librarians will do their best to meet your needs. Generally, they will request two weeks to complete the initial search and let you know if longer time is needed.
