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There’s no fixed minimum for a systematic review; include every eligible study, and meta-analysis needs at least two studies.

A health sciences dissertation typically has a literature review of 6,000–12,000 words, often one chapter; paper-based formats may spread it across papers.

The literature review in a medical research proposal usually runs 1–3 pages or 800–1,200 words, scaled to the funder or program limit.

In health sciences dissertations, the literature review usually spans about 20–40% of the total word count, set by your program.

A systematic review can include zero to hundreds of studies; the right count depends on scope, while meta-analysis needs at least two studies.

Most systematic reviews use 3–5 databases; at minimum, pair two core databases with 1–3 subject sources and registries for broad, low-bias coverage.

A systematic review can include any number of eligible studies; meta-analysis needs at least two, and some tests work best with ten or more.

In medical research papers, the literature review usually runs 300–800 words within the introduction, scaled to journal limits and article type.

There’s no fixed count; systematic reviews can include 2 to 100+ papers, and meta-analysis needs at least two comparable studies.

Most medical journals send each paper to two or three peer reviewers, with extras added for complex methods or statistics.