ESMIG's Evidence Synthesis Resources Guide

Welcome to this LibGuide brought to you by the Evidence Synthesis Methods Interest Group (ESMIG). This guide provides links to resources, tools, scholarly articles and other information to support information professionals conducting and assisting with evidence synthesis. The focus of the guide is on the steps in the evidence synthesis process typically supported by information specialists and librarians including protocol development, source selection, search and retrieval, and information and project management. Also provided are resources related to advising teams on review type selection, problem formulation, screening, critical appraisal, data extraction and synthesis.

If you have questions or suggestions about this guide, please contact the current ESMIG co-conveners  Aimee Sgourakis Jenkins (aimees@pitt.edu).or Amy Riegelman (aspringe@umn.edu).

This guide will be reviewed and updated on an annual basis.

The ACRL Evidence Synthesis Methods - Interest Group (ESM-IG) was created to promote and develop competencies related to supporting and participating in evidence synthesis, which includes systematic reviews, scoping reviews, meta-analysis and other types.

We do this in the form of recurring programming such as tool demos and journal clubs, an on-demand peer mentorship program, sharing resources, and through the discussion forum on ALA Connect.

ESMIG Meetings

Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday June 18, 2024 at 1PM EST. We have invited representatives from ELCIT to  provide a demonstration of the product at our June meeting.  ELICIT is a  literature review tool that incorporates AI.   Please join us as we learn how to use ELICIT for search, screening, and data extraction as part of a systematic review.   

If you are curious about what articles we have already discussed in previous journal club sessions, see the full list here.

Program description

This on-demand program was created to pair librarians who are participating on their first or second evidence synthesis review as a co-author with experienced librarians for support. The number of hours of mentorship provided should not exceed 10 hours, unless agreed upon by the mentor. We will attempt to pair all mentee applications with a mentor within 7-10 days, however a match is not guaranteed. For further details about the mentorship program see this program description.

Sign up to be a mentor

Use this form to sign up as a mentor. In order to be eligible as a mentor, you must have experience participating in evidence synthesis reviews as a co-author. As part of the sign-up process, you will be asked to provide citations to 2 published evidence synthesis articles or review protocols on which you were a co-author.

Apply as a mentee

Use this form to submit your application as a mentee. To be eligible, you must:

• be a practicing librarian who is working in a library setting
• have taken some prior training on evidence synthesis methods
• are about to participate in an evidence synthesis review for the first or second time as a co-author.

Guide Authors

• Elizabeth Kline, Research Engagement Librarian, University of Arizona
• Patrick Labelle, Research Librarian, University of Ottawa
• Zahra Premji, Health Research Librarian, University of Victoria
• Aimee Sgourakis Jenkins, Liaison Librarian, University of Pittsburgh
• Sarah Young, Liaison Librarian, Carnegie Mellon University

If you have any questions about this guide, please contact the current ACRL Evidence Synthesis Methods Interest Group Convener (currently, Aimee Jenkins)

If you have suggestions of resources for this guide, please fill out this suggestion form. Suggestions will be considered for inclusion by the LibGuide working group.