HBLS Evidence Synthesis Service

About the ESS

The Evidence Synthesis Service (ESS), provided by Health and Biomedical Library Services (HBLS), supports evidence synthesis projects in the health and medical sciences, including but not limited to systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and scoping reviews. The ESS offers three tiers of service; learn more about the individual tiers on the Service Details page of this guide. 

ESS Eligibility

Brown University affiliates eligible for all tiers of service:

• Faculty, staff, researchers, graduate students, and medical students affiliated with Brown University (including residents, fellows, and clinical faculty of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University) are eligible for all tiers of service of the ESS.

Brown University undergraduate students:

• Undergraduates working with a Brown affiliate as described above are eligible for all service tiers. It is expected that the eligible Brown affiliate will be actively engaged throughout the project.
• Undergraduates working only with non-Brown affiliates are eligible for Tier 1 of the service.

Other researchers:

• Researchers with a Brown University “Sponsored ID” but no current Brown appointment may be eligible for this service if they are working with a Brown affiliate as described above. It is expected that the eligible Brown researcher will be actively engaged throughout the project.

Please note: Brown students at any level of study who are completing evidence synthesis projects for a course, grade, or degree requirement are not eligible for this service. We encourage you to submit the Course/Degree Assigned Evidence Synthesis Form to schedule a meeting with a librarian.

A thorough and well-documented search methodology is essential to evidence synthesis. Librarians contribute to the quality and validity of evidence synthesis by developing expert search strategies balancing sensitivity, with comprehensive retrieval as the goal, and precision, where as many irrelevant results as possible are excluded. Searches typically go through multiple iterations, including peer review by other expert searchers.

Librarians' familiarity with the information landscape means we can also recommend the most appropriate databases and other sources in which to conduct searches. Translating a complex search across multiple platforms requires a detailed knowledge of databases' unique content and syntax. Writing a detailed and precise explanation of search methodology, including reproducibly documenting all searches performed, is also part of what librarians do in evidence synthesis projects.

Depending on the service tier you request, librarians may provide introductory education, guidance, and resources (Consultant); assist in search planning and design (Participating Investigator); or handle all aspects of the search process, from design and execution to managing results and writing the methods section of publications (Review Team Author). Librarians may also assist with other aspects of the project. Detailed information about the tiers of support can be found on the Service Details page.