Evidence Synthesis Consultation and Collaboration

Consultation and Collaboration with Laurier Librarians

Evidence Synthesis is an umbrella term for many types of review articles such as systematic, scoping and rapid reviews. Each of these review types has a specific methodology and set of reporting guidelines that need to be followed to ensure that the results are not biased. Developing a systematic, comprehensive search strategy is at the heart of all evidence synthesis projects and having an experienced librarian develop this search is recommended in many evidence synthesis methodologies (for example The Cochrane Handbook). The Laurier Library has developed this set of guidelines to make clear the types of support and levels of collaboration that we can offer. 

Librarian support and collaboration on evidence synthesis projects can be requested at three levels:  

• Education,  
• Consultation,  
• Collaboration & Co-authorship.

To meet with a librarian to discuss support for your evidence synthesis project, please complete the Evidence Synthesis Request form. 

Requests for literature search support are subject to librarian availability. Due to the in-depth and time-intensive nature of this work, requests may be put on a waitlist. The librarian will discuss timelines and delivery dates before any work commences.

As projects evolve, the librarian retains the right to change tiers to accurately reflect the nature of the work being conducted, and to refuse co-authorship.

To advance our goal of ensuring equity, diversity, inclusivity, and accessibility for disabled researchers and librarians who are involved in evidence synthesis work, we aim to be transparent about expectations and responsibilities, be flexible in our practices, proactively identify and report equity issues, and align our efforts with other library groups within and beyond Laurier.