Evidence Synthesis Introduction

General Guidelines

• Cannot be completed by a single person. Build a team that includes:
  • Subject matter experts  
  • Search experts
  • Methods experts
• Require a substantial time commitment:  
  • Systematic reviews need 12-24 months on average.
• Must use transparent and reproducible methods:
  • Use established methodologies,
  • Make your full search strategy for at least one database available.

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.

Types of Evidence Synthesis

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 

Evidence Synthesis Decision Making Tool - use this interactive tool to decide which type of review is right for you.

Text only version under development.