There are many types of knowledge syntheses and it is important to choose the right type of synthesis for your question. The following resources provide a general overview of the types of knowledge syntheses being used in current research.
This video is the recording of a webinar by Dr. Andrew Booth, describing the different types of reviews.
Booth, A. Fifty shades of review [Internet]. Sheffield: EAHIL. 2016 Nov 24. Video: 70 min
Right Review is a tool to help guide your choice of a knowledge synthesis method when looking at quantitative studies.
Systematic reviews should address specific, answerable questions and may be limited to relevant study designs, depending on the type of question (e.g., intervention, etiology, prognosis, diagnosis).
There are handbooks, standards, and guides to help you through the process of conducting systematic reviews, and these books can also be useful for other types of knowledge syntheses.
These resources provide guidance on specific types of systematic reviews.
Munn Z, Stern C, Aromataris E, Lockwood C, Jordan Z. What kind of systematic review should I conduct? A proposed typology and guidance for systematic reviewers in the medical and health sciences. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2018;18(1):5.
Mokkink LB, Elsman EBM, Terwee CB. COSMIN guideline for systematic reviews of patient-reported outcome measures version 2.0. Qual Life Res. Published online August 28, 2024. doi:10.1007/s11136-024-03761-6
A scoping review aims to address broader, more complex, and exploratory research questions where many different study designs may be applicable.
These resources will provide definitions and guidance on how to conduct a scoping review.
Online guides
References
Please note: This list is not complete but provides information on other review types which the health sciences librarians have been involved in supporting.
Due to a large influx of requests, there may be an extended wait time for librarian support on knowledge syntheses.
Find a librarian in your subject area to help you with your knowledge synthesis project.
Or contact the librarians at the
Schulich Library of Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, and Engineering
schulich.library@mcgill.ca
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