LibGuides: Perform an Evidence Synthesis: Evidence Synthesis in Health Sciences

Evidence Synthesis in Health Sciences

Research practices and study designs can look very different depending on the field being studied. This remains true for systematic reviews and other types of evidence synthesis. Below are some of the guidelines and standards that we follow when performing evidence synthesis in health sciences.

Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions
The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions is the official guide that describes in detail the process of preparing and maintaining Cochrane systematic reviews on the effects of healthcare interventions.
Institute of Medicine (IOM) Standards for Systematic Reviews
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends 21 standards for developing high-quality systematic reviews of comparative effectiveness research. The standards address the entire systematic review process from the initial steps of formulating the topic and building the review team to producing a detailed final report that synthesizes what the evidence shows and where knowledge gaps remain.
JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis
This manual guides authors who wish to conduct systematic and scoping reviews following JBI methodologies. Each chapter is devoted to the synthesis of different types of evidence to address different types of clinical and policy-related questions.

Protocols and Reporting

An evidence synthesis protocol states your rationale, hypothesis, and planned methodology. The protocol acts as a guide to conducting the research.

PRISMA 2020
The PRISMA 2020 statement has been designed primarily for systematic reviews of studies that evaluate the effects of health interventions, irrespective of the design of the included studies. It consists of a checklist and a flow diagram.
PRISMA 2020 Checklist
The PRISMA 2020 Checklist comprises a 27-item checklist addressing the introduction, methods, results and discussion sections of a systematic review report.
PRISMA Flow Diagram
The flow diagram depicts the flow of information through the different phases of a systematic review. It maps out the number of records identified, included and excluded, and the reasons for exclusions. Different templates are available depending on the type of review (new or updated) and sources used to identify studies.
PRISMA-P
PRISMA-P was published in 2015 aiming to facilitate the development and reporting of systematic review protocols.
PRISMA-Search
The PRISMA extension for searching was published in 2021. The checklist includes 16 reporting items, each of which is detailed with exemplar reporting and rationale.
PRISMA-ScR
The PRISMA extension for scoping reviews was published in 2018. The checklist contains 20 essential reporting items and 2 optional items to include when completing a scoping review. Scoping reviews serve to synthesize evidence and assess the scope of literature on a topic. Among other objectives, scoping reviews help determine whether a systematic review of the literature is warranted.

Tools

Article Screening

Rayyan (Free and Subscription)
Rayyan is a free online tool that can be used for independent screening and coding of studies in a systematic review.
Abstrackr (Free)
Abstrackr is a free online tool to help you upload and organize the results of a literature search for a systematic review.
Covidence (Subscription)
Covidence is an online systematic review management tool that allows for independent title/abstract screening, full text screening, data extraction and risk of bias assessment.
PICO Portal (Free and Subscription)
A systematic review platform that leverages artificial intelligence to accelerate research and innovation. PICO Portal assists you with identifying relevant citations, de-duplication, screening, full-text review, and evidence mapping in your next systematic review.

Citation Managers

Citation managers help you organize and format references for your research. They store citation information, generate bibliographies, and can insert citations directly into your documents. They save you time by keeping everything organized and ensuring your citations follow the correct style.

Zotero
Freely available open source software.
Mendeley
Freely available online.
EndNote
EndNote Web is exclusive to EndNote 21. Roseman students and faculty are able to access the desktop version.