Evidence Synthesis in My Discipline: Yes, No, Maybe So?

In the noisy information landscape, evidence synthesis projects provide unbiased information needed to make big decisions. Evidence synthesis, which includes systematic reviews, comprehensively collects information across resources to ensure that the literature synthesis is both unbiased and reproducible. These types of projects have traditionally been run in medical fields, where evidence synthesis informs best practice in high-stake environments. In recent years, however, evidence synthesis projects have begun to grow beyond the medical fields. This presentation will focus on summarizing the shift of evidence synthesis projects in the past ten years—covering the numbers of projects published, the disciplines covered, or the types of evidence synthesis projects themselves. By the end of the session, attendees will be able to understand how evidence synthesis may be growing into the disciplines that they support, as well as what types of projects that their patrons may be interested in. If given a longer presentation, resources will also be provided for non-medical librarians who may find themselves being asked about evidence synthesis projects without being trained to provide this support.