Evidence Synthesis Methods Interest Group

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Charge: To promote and develop competencies around evidence synthesis including systematic reviews, meta-analyses, scoping reviews, and other related methods of research synthesis, through activities such as: Facilitating discussion and peer-support; Creating and managing a resource page; Encouraging programming and publications around systematic reviews through ACRL.
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  • 1.  GA utilization in scoping or SR?

    Posted Apr 13, 2022 08:45 AM

    Hi, all

     

    Has anyone utilized the help of a graduate assistant in conducting a scoping review or systematic review? If so, what roles or tasks have they successfully employed?

     

    I ask because I had tried being a guide on the side for a GA on a scoping review (which was more work than it was worth) and now I'm jumping midstream into a systematic review that has been floundering for a year where the GA did a phenomenal amount of work that wasn't useful. Now am being asked to utilize this same GA in my search strategy work and am having difficulty identify something that would be a productive use of his and my time.

     

    Any comments/thoughts welcome!

     

    Best,

    Anita

     

    Anita Kuiken, MSLIS, AHIP (queue-ken)
    (Pronouns: she/her/hers)
    Librarian for Falk College of Sport & Human Dynamics
    Research Impact Team
    Syracuse University Libraries
    Tel: 315-443-9766

    akuiken@syr.edu
    LinkedIn

    Need help with research? Find library content from these research guides in the areas I support: Exercise Science | Food Studies | Human Development & Family Science | Marriage & Family Therapy | Nutrition Science & Dietetics | Public Health | Social Work | Sport Management | Aging Studies l Stabler Running Collection

    130 Sims Dr., Syracuse, NY 13244
    library.syr.edu

    Syracuse University

     



  • 2.  RE: GA utilization in scoping or SR?

    Posted Apr 13, 2022 09:55 AM
    Could the GA help with deduplication of search results and finding full text articles when you're at that stage?



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  • 3.  RE: GA utilization in scoping or SR?

    Posted Apr 13, 2022 10:37 AM

    Yes, that's one area I thought they'd be most useful, Megan. Thanks for reminder on next phase. I'm just hard-pressed to roll them in during the search strategy development phase. So far, I've been simply sharing my process, so he knows how I'm thinking about this and how it's different from the work that he tried to do himself and asking him to do small things, like, talk to all members of the team to establish a central and accessible folder where all docs live (in a basic team information management approach). I'm stepping into this project after it's been floundering, so I'm helping team building/inclusivity along.

    Best,

    Anita

     




    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: GA utilization in scoping or SR?

    Posted Apr 13, 2022 11:15 AM
    I've been lucky to work with some really fantastic GA. One has become the meta-analyst on several projects, and several have served as the defacto PI in keeping projects on task and on focus. Often they ask the critical questions during conceptualizing stages, whereas the faculty researchers can tend to wander down rabbit holes. Some specific tasks they often do well are helping to draft and register the protocols, taking ownership of verifying methods and reporting against the guidelines, including the checklists, and doing data management. And as Amy mentions, doing deduplication and the FT retrieval are natural steps. I've also seen the GAs take ownership of the screening process, including training and validation.

    Scott

    Scott Marsalis
    Social Sciences Librarian,
    University of Minnesota Libraries
    My pronouns are he/him
    I acknowledge that the University of Minnesota is located on the traditional, ancestral, and contemporary lands of Indigenous people.
     





    Original Message