Evidence Synthesis Introduction
Types of Evidence Synthesis
There are many, many types of evidence synthesis. The most well known are systematic, scoping, rapid, and umbrella reviews. The seminal description of review types is Grant & Booth (2009) which described fourteen types of review article. More recently, Sutton, et al. (2019) listed forty-eight types of review!
- Grant, M.J. and Booth, A. (2009), A typology of reviews: an analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 26: 91-108. DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x
- Sutton, A., Clowes, M., Preston, L. and Booth, A. (2019), Meeting the review family: exploring review types and associated information retrieval requirements. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 36: 202-222. DOI: 10.1111/hir.12276
Try this Evidence Synthesis Decision Making Tool to decide which type of review is right for you.
General Guidelines
- Should not be completed by a single person:
- Searches can produce thousands of results,
- Screening and data extraction need at least two people to minimise bias,
- A team allows you to include subject matter, search, and methodology experts.
- Require a substantial time commitment:
- Systematic reviews need 12-24 months on average,
- One semester is not usually enough time for a methodologically sound project.
- Must use transparent and reproducible methods:
- Use established methodologies,
- Make your full search strategy for at least one database available,
- Follow reporting guidelines to make methods and limitations clear.
Key Stages in Evidence Synthesis Projects
- Explore the topic with some preliminary searches, and check that an evidence synthesis on the topic doesn’t already exist,
- Develop clear research questions,
- Write (and publish or register) a protocol,
- Build a systematic search strategy in your main database, test it, and translate it for your other databases,
- Screen title & abstract (Covidence is available to Laurier researchers),
- Screen full text,
- Complete data extraction & analysis as required for the type of review,
- Write up and submit for publication.