Skip to Main Content
FGCU Logo

Evidence Synthesis Service

Please Note

For the 2025 Academic Year, the Evidence Synthesis Service Team

will offer Level 1 consultations only. Thank you.

Evidence Synthesis Service Request Form

Level One: Librarian as Advisor

For Level One service, librarians will provide:

  • Provide background information and resources on evidence synthesis methods 

  • Advise on the development of the review protocol 

  • Advise on the keywords and search strategy 

  • Recommend databases and grey literature sources 

  • Recommend screening and citation management tools 

As an advisor, your librarian can provide up to 10 hours of support throughout the project.  (These hours may vary depending on the project).  Librarians who collaborate on search strategy formation and/or citation management should be acknowledged in the final publication.

Level Two: Librarian as Collaborators/Co-authors

For Level Two service, the Librarian will provide:

  • Co-design the search strategy and translate it to different databases 

  • Perform searches and export results to a citation manager and/or screening tool 

  • Deduplicate results 

  • Assist with full text article retrieval 

  • Train the team on screening and citation management tools 

  • Write the search portion of the methods section 

  • Create the PRISMA flowchart (the research team and librarian work together to provide the relevant data for completion) 

  • Provide documentation of the searches for publication 

Evidence synthesis projects require a significant time commitment and input from a team of experts to produce high-quality results. FGCU librarians are ready, willing, and able to help as needed.  Co-authorship is at the discretion of the librarian(s).

Defining the Roles of the Librarian and Research Team

In collaboration, librarians will: Research Teams will:
  • Consult with research team to determine the appropriate review type based on your research question and project goals
  • Decide on type of review, based on timeline and scope of project
  • Be an active member of the research team
  • Decide on roles (two independent reviewers, one tie-breaker, librarian, statistician) and responsibilities of team members
  • Provide advice on best practices and standards for reporting (i.e. PRISMA, MOOSE, Cochrane)
  • Adhere to best practices and standards for reporting
  • Identify appropriate databases, develop search strategies, perform searches, and document search details
  • Provide the librarian with ample time to complete the search after protocol is registered in PROSPERO or other protocol registration platforms
  • Import references and train research team on review management or citation management software
  • Begin title/abstract screening as soon as librarian imports references into the review management software
  • Assist with the acquisition of full-text articles for full-text screening in the review management or citation management software
  • Assist with the acquisition of full-text articles for full-text screening in the review management or citation management software (ILL or Document Delivery requests)
  • Write the search methods section of the manuscript and provide reproducible search strategies for the appendix
  • Include the librarian(s) as co-author, and send completed manuscript to librarian for review prior to submission
Note:  Co-authoring is a more substantial commitment, and a librarian will typically devote more than a year to partner with you on your review.  Accepting a role as co-author is solely at the discretion of the librarian.  

 

Florida Gulf Coast University Library

(239) 590-7600 | Library Webmaster