Evidence Synthesis & Literature Reviews

Who We Are

Our librarians have co-authored hundreds of evidence synthesis articles. Librarians and library staff are continually trained on new search methodologies and processes. We adhere to the requirements for authorship and contributor-ship of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Who You Are

To ensure alignment with institutional goals, evidence synthesis consultations are available to teams where BOTH the lead researcher/primary contact (first author) and group leader/PI (last author) are current faculty, staff, or students whose primary affiliation is at YSM, YSPH, YSN, or YNHH.

Tools

• Covidence – manage bibliographic data, PDFs, forms for risk of bias, and data extraction
  • Step-by-Step series
  • Knowledge Base
• EndNote – citation management software
  • EndNote training – YouTube channel
• What Review Is Right For You? Interactive Edition – guidance for conducting and reporting evidence synthesis

Search Strategies

• Yale MeSH Analyzer – helps identify keywords and controlled vocabulary in your search strategy
• searchRxiv
• ISSG Search filters
• Concepts de stratégies de recherche [French – Search Strategy Concepts]
• PRESS
• How to write a search strategy for your systematic review

Methodology Guidelines

• JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis: Scoping Reviews (Chapter 10)
• Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions
• Cochrane-Campbell Handbook for Qualitative Evidence Synthesis
• Finding What Works in Health Care: Standards for Systematic Reviews

Reporting Guidelines

• PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses)
  • PRISMA-ScR PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews Checklist
  • Other PRISMA Extensions
• MOOSE (Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) 
• ENTREQ (Enhancing Transparency in Reporting the Synthesis of Qualitative Research)

Quality Assessment & Risk of Bias Instruments

• Common tools for risk of bias (quality) assessment
• GRADE: Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation
• Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) Checklist
• JBI Critical Appraisal Tools
• Risk of bias tools in systematic reviews of health interventions: an analysis of PROSPERO-registered protocols (article)
• Critical appraisal of nonrandomized studies: a review of recommended and commonly used tools (article)

Protocol Templates

• PRISMA-P
• Campbell Collaboration
• F1000research
• BMC
• Should I register my review protocol?

Protocol Registries

• PROSPERO (International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews)
• Open Science Framework: Registries

 Articles

• “Ensuring the Rigor in Systematic Reviews” series by Alexandria Brackett and Janene Batten, published in Heart and Lung:
  • The Overview
  • The Question and the Protocol
  • The Value of the Search
  • Screening the Results
  • Quality Appraisal, Data Extraction, Synthesis
  • Reporting Guidelines
  • Critical Appraisal of Systematic Review Quality

• “The Commercial Determinants of Health and Evidence Synthesis (CODES): methodological guidance for systematic reviews and other evidence syntheses.” Systematic Reviews, 12: 165.
• “Systematic review or scoping review? Guidance for authors when choosing between a systematic or scoping review approach.” BMC Medical Research Methodology, 18: 1-7. 
• “A scoping review on the conduct and reporting of scoping reviews.” BMC Medical Research Methodology, 16: 15.
• “Mapping reviews, scoping reviews, and evidence and gap maps (EGMs): the same but different—the “Big Picture” review family.” Systematic Reviews, 12: 45.
• “Scoping reviews: reinforcing and advancing the methodology and application.” Systematic Reviews, 10: 263.

Books

• Searching the Grey Literature: A handbook for Searching Reports, Working Papers, and other Unpublished Research by Sarah Bonato
• An Introduction to Systematic Reviews edited by David Gough, Sandy Oliver, James Thomas  
• Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis by Jacqueline Corcoran; Vijayan Pillai; Julia H. Littell
• The Handbook of Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis edited by Harris Cooper, Larry V. Hedges, Jeffrey C. Valentine