Systematic Reviews & Evidence Synthesis

The Systematic Review and Evidence Synthesis Service from the Leatherby Libraries offers two levels of support: Consultant and Co-Author.

Consultant Services

As a consultant, a librarian can step in at different points of the review process and:

• Provide comprehensive resources on the systematic review process and other evidence synthesis projects.
• Suggest appropriate databases, protocol registration platforms, and citation management software.
• Offer suggestions for refining search strategies, including troubleshooting specific issues.
• Provide advice on translation of search strategy for different databases.
• Provide advice on documenting search strategies, search results, and reporting of methods in the manuscript.

Co-Author Services

Co-authoring is a more substantial commitment, and a librarian will typically devote more than a year to partner with you on your systematic review. As a co-author, the librarian will be more hands-on and can: 

• Assist in selecting relevant databases and grey literature resources.
• Write and translate search strategies for various databases.
• Perform searches and export results to citation management software.
• Comment on the protocol and write portions of the methods section specific to searching.
• Perform de-duplication or train the team on the process and advise on article screening software.

To request assistance with your Systematic Review or Evidence Synthesis project, please email lrds@chapman.edu or complete the Systematic Review & Evidence Synthesis Consultation Request Form. 

• If librarians have the capacity and interest, they can be heavily involved in the evidence synthesis process. It is recommended that the disciplinary experts on the author team manage certain steps that require specific content-area and quantitative methods expertise.

• Librarians who provide co-author-level services and write the search methodology section of the synthesis should be included as co-authors in the final publication.

• Librarians who consult on search strategy formation and/or citation management should be acknowledged in the final publication.

• Review Chapman’s Guidance for Authorship in Scholarly or Scientific Publications to learn more about the role of authors and contributors. 

• When requesting a co-author level of service, the completion and submission of the  Systematic Review and Evidence Synthesis Service Consultation Request Form will be required prior to librarian involvement.

• Researchers applying for external grant funding for projects involving systematic review or evidence synthesis projects are expected to include librarian efforts in the grant if they plan to request co-author-level service from librarians. 

  • If external grant funding has already been awarded, researchers should seek guidance from the Office of Research on how to include librarian efforts in their grants.