Systematic Reviews

Librarian involvement during protocol development:

• Search for existing systematic reviews or protocols of reviews in progress (PubMed, Cochrane, Prospero)
• Conduct a scoping review search- Scoping searches are brief searches of existing literature that provide an overview of the range and depth of research that exists for a particular research idea.*
• Assist in formation, revision of research question(s) with:
  • Reference interview to clarify the nature and breadth of research goals
  • Preliminary searches
  • Clarification of definitions of concepts (Example: What is included in “usual care”?)
• Advise on selecting software to support review tasks and documentation 

Librarian involvement in the systematic review:

• Identify databases to search for evidence
• Create search strategies
• Conduct systematic searches of the literature
• Documentation of detailed search strategies
• Provide a list of references obtained from literature searches in the file format of your choice (e.g. Excel, EndNote)
• Write a narrative of the search methodology for inclusion in a manuscript

*adapted from https://www.rds-yh.nihr.ac.uk/scoping-searchesfunding-update/

Authorship: Tier 2 services are associated with authorship, as activities such as developing, executing, managing results from the search, as well as drafting the methods section of a manuscript satisfy the requirements for authorship recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.

Alt-Text: A two-columned table with categories for Tier 1 and Tier 2. The table displays the differences in the tiers of librarian services.