The EU-Joint Clinical Assessment Guidance Documents Fail to Address the Significance of Systematic Literature Reviews and Deviate from the State of the Art

This paper summarizes an analysis of the Joint Clinical Assessment (JCA) subgroup’s recommendations for systematic literature reviews (SLRs). While the JCA offers clear guidance on study classification, exclusion criteria reporting, and PRISMA diagram use, several of its recommendations diverge from established best practices in evidence-based medicine (EBM). A comparison with recognized guidelines, such as those from Cochrane and EUnetHTA, reveals that the JCA guidance may lack reliability, comprehensiveness, and reproducibility. Aligning JCA recommendations with gold standards in SLR methodology would address these shortcomings and enhance methodological rigor.