While well-done reviews in a large number of areas are available, it is important to continue to improve the quality of the overall body of public health review literature. Considering that the majority of weak reviews scored poorly on assessing the methodological quality of the primary studies, transparency, methods for combining or comparing results, conducting a comprehensive search strategy, and data supporting the author's interpretations, review authors should be cognisant of these criteria when conducting systematic reviews. In improving the quality of systematic reviews, the overall goals should ensure there are high quality reviews in all public health topic areas and a higher standard across the board.