There is growing interest in, and use of, artificial intelligence (AI) in evidence synthesis reviews. AI in evidence synthesis is an active area of research and development and has been for some time (e.g. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 2012). While research teams create custom solutions for their review projects, we are also seeing growth in access to off-the-shelf solutions (Cierco et al. 2022).
Evidence Synthesis
Conducting the Screening Steps in Your Review
This one-hour online training in the NIH Library Evidence Synthesis Review series provides an overview on establishing your inclusion and exclusion criteria and then using those criteria to conduct the screening steps to select relevant studies for your review.
By the end of this training, attendees will be able to:
Describe what the eligibility criteria are and how to use them
Covidence Virtual Office Hours
Join us monthly for our virtual office hours, designed to help new and current Covidence users maximize their use of the software. Covidence is screening software used to conduct various types of reviews (e.g., systematic, scoping, literature, etc.). Each monthly virtual office hours will focus on one or two Covidence features with ample opportunity provided for attendee questions and problem-solving. Whether you are a new or existing Covidence user, there will be something helpful for you to learn.
Developing and Disseminating Your Review Protocol
This one-hour online training in the NIH Library Evidence Synthesis Review series provides an overview of writing and publishing or registering your review protocol. This training will cover what a review protocol is, how to develop one, and how to use it for the conduct of your review.
By the end of this training, attendees will be able to:
Explain the importance of writing a protocol for your review
Developing the Research Question and Conducting the Literature Search
This one-hour online training in the NIH Library Evidence Synthesis Review Series introduces techniques and frameworks to help build an answerable review question suitable for differing types of evidence synthesis reviews. This training presents well known frameworks such as PICO for systematic reviews, and PCC for scoping reviews and introduces some lesser-known frameworks that may be helpful. The training also touches on the requirements and process for the evidence synthesis literature review.
Evidence Synthesis Classes and Services
The NIH Library’s Evidence Synthesis Service: expert-led classes and personalized, one-to-one consultations.
Evidence Synthesis FAQs
What is evidence synthesis?
Evidence synthesis is a process of identifying, selecting, and combining multiple studies to inform practice and policy decisions around a topic or specific research question.
Watch a short video from Cochrane [Cochrane, 3 minutes] that explains what evidence synthesis is and why we need it.
What is Covidence?
Exploring the Cochrane Library: Systematic Reviews, Clinical Trials, and More
This 75-minute online training will provide information about Cochrane Library, a collection of databases with high-quality systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials and clinical answers. The training will cover the key features of the search platform, the variety of resources and how to search them.
By the end of this training, attendees will be able to:
How to Conduct an Umbrella Review
This one-hour training will cover the key steps on how to conduct an umbrella review. Umbrella reviews, sometimes referred to as review of reviews, are a review of other published systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Attendees will learn the benefits, best practices, guidelines, and key steps on how to successfully conduct an umbrella review.
By the end of this training, attendees will be able to:
Introduction to the Systematic Review Process
This one-hour online introductory training in the NIH Library Evidence Synthesis Review Series provides a high-level overview of the complete process for conducting a Systematic Review. This training will cover each step for conducting a systematic review and introduce resources for conducting and reporting a systematic review.
By the end of this training, attendees will be able to:
Next Steps
Review Team & Roles | Steps to 3Complete | Writing the Protocol | Registering or Publishing the Protocol | Selecting Tools | Example Protocols
A clear plan and a protocol can hold you accountable and contribute to your success!
References & Further Reading
Please note, this is not an exhaustive list. For further information, please reach out to the library.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2012). Machine Learning Methods in Systematic Reviews: Identifying Quality Improvement Intervention Evaluations. Effective Health Care Program, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK109711/
Risk of Bias
What It Is | How to Assess | Tools | Manuals & Guidance
What It Is
Assessing the risk of bias in evidence syntheses involves assessing the internal validity of individual studies included in your evidence synthesis.
The University of York's Centre for Reviews and Dissemination provide helpful definitions of key concepts:
Screening
How to Screen | Pilot Test | Get Full Text | Manuals & Guidance
How To Screen
Screening (or study selection) involves choosing articles from search results based on pre-set inclusion criteria, and is conducted at two stages:
Start Here
Assess the Need | Assemble the Team | Refine the Question | Select the Review Type | Learn More
Start your evidence synthesis review right.
Before you dive in:
Systematic Review Standards & Organizations
Systematic Reviews Standards
PRISMA Statement for Reporting Systematic Reviews [1] (PDF) - The PRISMA statement consists of a 27 item checklist of items deemed as essential for transparent reporting of a systematic review.
Tools & Their Use of AI
The table below presents information on stages during which AI/ML is incorporated into the tool. Many offer other valuable automation, auditing, collaboration, and reporting features.
This table is not a comprehensive listing.
Using Covidence
To conduct screening and data collection, use software designed to facilitate these steps. A variety of fee-based and freely available, open source tools are available.
The NIH Library currently provides NIH staff free access to Covidence, a web-based collaboration tool for performing evidence syntheses. At least one user must be from NIH to request access and use Covidence.