Knowledge synthesis purpose, process, tools, and resources
The Cochrane Collaboration notes that research has shown that a partnership with a health sciences librarian or information specialist increases the quality of the review's search process. Librarian support is, therefore, available to members of the York University community. One category applies to students and the other to faculty. Please note that there are two levels of support for faculty, Tier 1 and Tier 2.
For Students
General consultation.
Librarian consultation for assistance with knowledge-synthesis focused course-work and term projects is done with the objective to learn how to do systematic searching, record keeping and managing search results.
Before booking a consultation with a librarian, please be prepared to provide them with your approved research question and inclusion/exclusion criteria prior to your meeting.
Librarians, when appropriate, will instruct individuals or groups on projects requiring comprehensive searching, which may include any of the following:
constructing a comprehensive search strategy from a research question
assistance translating the strategy to other databases
alternative ways of searching for evidence such as snowball technique, cited reference searching, etc.
recording the search strategy
managing research results using citation management tools such as Zotero
PLEASE NOTE: Librarians will not provide support about how to conduct your study; please refer to your supervisor for more information on how to execute a systematic or scoping review.
Tier 1: In-depth consultation for faculty
Librarian consultation for assistance with a knowledge-synthesis focused research project with an objective to support researchers preparing for publication:
Before booking a consultation with a librarian, please be prepared to provide them with a copy of the research protocol and complete the in-take form.
Librarian can instruct individuals or research groups on comprehensive searching for systematic or scoping reviews on:
constructing a comprehensive search strategy from a research question
translating the strategy to other databases
pointing researchers to literature to assist with record keeping
managing research results using citation management tools such as Zotero or EndNote
helping with and referring Covidence questions and issues
Tier 2: Librarian-Faculty Co-Authorships
Librarians may participate as a co-researcher in systematic reviews for publication (with research faculty teams) if they are available and have the time.* Please book a consultation with a librarian, who will discuss the expectations of their role throughout the project with you.
*There is a significant increase in the demand for librarian expertise in systematic reviews has increased the wait time for librarian participation as co-researcher in knowledge synthesis research. Thus, a librarian reserves the right to leave the project at any point in the process.