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.  Upcoming changes to ERIC from an evidence synthesis perspective

    Posted Mar 25, 2025 05:05 PM
    Colleagues,
    If you use ERIC for evidence synthesis, there are some things you should know with the ongoing changes at Department of Education and specifically the work of Department of Government Efficiency to "reduce overall Federal spending" and "reallocate spending to promote efficiency" (EO 14222).
    • Some journal editors are being notified that their journal has been deselected from ERIC and that the ERIC collection will be reduced by 45% starting April 24, 2025. The full list of affected journals has not been released (yet). There is a grassroots effort to track deselected journal titles here. (Shoutout to Elizabeth Webster!!! �� ) If you are aware of journal titles not listed here but have been notified of deselection, please add them via the form linked on the doc.
    • A Department of Education staff member shared, "Please note that all records currently in ERIC will remain available." This means that if you ran a search in ERIC previously, those results should remain in the index according to the Department of Ed staff member responding to inquiries. It's the future journal issues that would be missing.
    • Some of us have contacted Ebsco about how/when these deselection changes will be reflected (via future ingests) on the Ebsco platform. We're still waiting on clarification. If you use ERIC via other platforms (e.g. ProQuest), you could seek clarification from those vendors.
    • The November 2024 journal title list (so prior to the upcoming ERIC reduction) is viewable here and has been preserved by the WayBack Machine.
    • There is a dearth of information right now so we're really cobbling things together. I likely won't be able to answer any of your questions about these changes other than what was shared here.
    Stay tuned...

    --

    Amy Riegelman (she, her, hers)
    Social Sciences & Evidence Synthesis Librarian, University of Minnesota
    Information Specialist for Campbell Disability Coordinating Group



  • 2.  RE: Upcoming changes to ERIC from an evidence synthesis perspective

    Posted Mar 27, 2025 07:28 AM
    Amy,

    Just want to say thank you for compiling this information and spreading the word. I had not yet heard about this and have been raising awareness within UMass Amherst Libraries.

    We are working on messaging at the campus-level about this and related issues. Would others be willing to discuss if their libraries are taking a proactive role and initiating discussions about what this means? Press releases? Workshops? Newsletters? Faculty Senate? This is a moment where libraries need to step up.

    Fortunately, we acquired Education Source Ultimate recently and intend to steer users to that as a replacement resource. What are other education librarians recommending?

    Best,
    Eric

    Eric Toole (he/him) | Evidence Synthesis Librarian
    Science & Engineering Library
    University of Massachusetts, Amherst
    (413) 545-6151
    *95d2d5af00b34ae2a9167525cbd23cae@umass.edu?anonymous&ep=plink" title="https://outlook.office.com/bookwithme/user/95d2d5af00b34ae2a9167525cbd23cae@umass.edu?anonymous&ep=plink">Book appointment*




    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Upcoming changes to ERIC from an evidence synthesis perspective

    Posted Mar 27, 2025 06:07 PM
    Here are some guides and a blog. that I'm aware of that reference the ERIC reduction---

    Finding Government Information during the 2025 Administration Transition

    Government Information Data Rescue 

    Here is what I sent to the faculty in my departments---

    Some of you may be aware that the Department of Education will be reducing the list of journals selected for indexing in ERIC. The key information to know (which is also available here):

    • "[T]he number of records added to the ERIC collection will be significantly reduced going forward. The number of actively cataloged sources will be reduced by approximately 45% starting April 24, 2025." 

    • "Please note that all records currently in ERIC will remain available."

    • Not all journals have been notified (yet) that are being deselected. "There has been a delay in notifying publishers impacted by this content reduction due to the government reduction in force."

    • Department of Education has not released a list of deselected journals (yet)

    Librarians across the country are trying to prepare for the consequences of these changes to the ERIC collection (via eric.ed.gov as well as vendor platforms like Ebsco). If your journals have been deselected by ERIC, please contribute to this form. Deselected journal names will display via a list on this continuously updated doc. 


    Amy Riegelman


    --

    Amy Riegelman (she, her, hers)
    Social Sciences & Evidence Synthesis Librarian, University of Minnesota
    Information Specialist for Campbell Disability Coordinating Group




    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Upcoming changes to ERIC from an evidence synthesis perspective

    Posted Mar 28, 2025 01:13 PM

    Hi Eric,

    We haven't taken a super active role in notifying education students or faculty about changes to ERIC just yet, but I think I will be helping to circulate a mass email to them in the next couple of weeks once we know more. 

    As for a replacement database, I actually do have thoughts on this. Sara Fitzgerald, Kari D. Weaver and I just completed an comparative analysis of the journal coverage of 4 top education databases that should be coming out in Research Synthesis Methods any day now. When we compared the ISSN-level coverage of ERIC (IES), Education Source (EBSCO), Education Database (ProQuest) and Educator's Reference Complete (Gale), we found that 1) these databases are more unique than they are similar, but if you're going to pick 1 database to use, Education Source has the most unique titles and the most titles. Education Source Ultimate hadn't been announced when we worked with the data last, but I think the findings still stand. Abstract for the forthcoming article is below.

    Title: What constitutes a "comprehensive literature search" in education?: Education database coverage overlaps Abstract: While the Institute of Education Science's ERIC is often recommended for comprehensive literature searching in the field of education, there are several other specialized education databases to discover education literature. This study investigates journal coverage overlaps between four specialized education databases: Education Source (EBSCO), Education Database (ProQuest), ERIC (Institute of Education Sciences), and Educator's Reference Complete (Gale). Out of a total of 4,695 unique journals analyzed, there are 2,831 journals uniquely covered by only one database, as well as many journals covered by only two or three databases. Findings show that evidence synthesis projects and literature reviews benefit from careful selection of multiple specialized education databases, and that ERIC is insufficient as the primary education database for comprehensive searching in the field.

    Alissa Droog (she/her/hers)
    Assistant Professor | Education & Social Science Librarian
    Northern Illinois University 



    ------------------------------
    Alissa Droog
    Assistant Professor, Education & Social Sciences Librarian
    Northern Illinois University
    She/Her/Hers
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Upcoming changes to ERIC from an evidence synthesis perspective

    Posted Apr 01, 2025 03:13 PM

    Hi again,

    The study mentioned above which investigates coverage overlaps between Education databases and alternatives to ERIC is finally out and was published open access. It's available below: 

    Fitzgerald, S. R., Weaver, K. D., & Droog, A. (2025). Selecting a specialized education database for literature reviews and evidence synthesis projects. Research Synthesis Methods, 16(1), 30–41. https://doi.org/10.1017/rsm.2024.11 



    ------------------------------
    Alissa Droog
    Assistant Professor, Education & Social Sciences Librarian
    Northern Illinois University
    She/Her/Hers
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Upcoming changes to ERIC from an evidence synthesis perspective

    Posted Apr 02, 2025 08:09 AM
    Thanks for sharing, Alissa. I blocked off some time Monday morning to read and very much look forward to it. Looks like a very thorough and fascinating article with great import and I look forward to chatting with Sarah about it too since we are colleagues at UMass.

    As it happens, our evidence synthesis service has recently caught the attention of education faculty, so this will be highly useful. Since I haven't engaged with education researchers much before, I'm reading up and just learned of the What Works Clearinghouse. I didn't know that DoE was funding evidence synthesis in education! As a follow-up to reading your paper, I plan to see which databases were employed for some of the systematic reviews they contracted out and in which databases the journals that published their included articles are indexed.

    If others have experience or opinions on What Works Clearinghouse, I'd be very curious. Looks like a very high quality undertaking that is mirroring AHRQ systematic reviews at the surface level. The other resource I plan to check out is the Campbell Collaboration Education Coordinating Group (ECG): https://www.campbellcollaboration.org/education/reviews/. If there are other best-in-class resources that I could use for benchmarking when starting to do evidence synthesis in education, I would love to have your recommendations!

    Best,
    Eric



    Eric Toole (he/him) | Evidence Synthesis Librarian
    Science & Engineering Library
    University of Massachusetts, Amherst
    (413) 545-6151
    *95d2d5af00b34ae2a9167525cbd23cae@umass.edu?anonymous&ep=plink" title="https://outlook.office.com/bookwithme/user/95d2d5af00b34ae2a9167525cbd23cae@umass.edu?anonymous&ep=plink">Book appointment*




    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Upcoming changes to ERIC from an evidence synthesis perspective

    Posted Apr 02, 2025 01:58 PM
    Eric, chiming in on What Works Clearinghouse and Campbell Collaboration--

    What Works Clearinghouse (WWC)
    I was told by an education researcher recently that there is a median of 3 studies reviewed per intervention for WWC reports (I can't find a source for this). Unfortunately WWC was part of the DOGE canceled contracts.
    Campbell Collaboration Education Coordinating Group 
    Campbell Collaboration Education Coordinating Group has a dedicated information specialist, Patrick Labelle from University of Ottawa. I do the same role for the  Campbell Disability Coordinating Group. We peer review protocol and manuscript search strategies to ensure adherence to Campbell Standards.

    --

    Amy Riegelman (she, her, hers)
    Social Sciences & Evidence Synthesis Librarian, University of Minnesota
    Information Specialist for Campbell Disability Coordinating Group




    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Upcoming changes to ERIC from an evidence synthesis perspective

    Posted Apr 15, 2025 10:45 AM
    [a similar message is being cross-posted a few different places]

    _ERIC updates_
    If you're attempting to follow DOGE's changes to ERIC, recommended reading:
    Take care,
    Amy

    --

    Amy Riegelman (she, her, hers)
    Social Sciences & Evidence Synthesis Librarian, University of Minnesota
    Information Specialist for Campbell Disability Coordinating Group




    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Upcoming changes to ERIC from an evidence synthesis perspective

    Posted Mar 28, 2025 03:52 PM

    Hi, Eric - this is the email I sent to faculty in my departments, as well as to the deans of the School of Education at my university. I don't provide any evidence synthesis support in my position but I am the liaison to several education programs. 

    Hello, all - I'm sure you are aware of the current administration's actions regarding the U.S. Department of Education, but I wanted to make you aware of a change that may affect us on campus, and which I believe will affect many teachers in the field. 
     
    ERIC, or the Education Resources Information Center, indexes and has the full text of many journals, and grey literature not found in other sources. It is sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences within the U.S. Department of Education. It is freely accessible to all, such as teachers who may not have access to other research resources. 
     
    Due to DOGE's work to "reduce overall Federal spending" (Executive Order 14222), funding to ERIC has been significantly cut. Per the ERIC Help Desk, "the number of records added to the ERIC collection will be significantly reduced going forward. The number of actively cataloged sources will be reduced by approximately 45% starting April 24, 2025.  Subject matter was not considered during the process to identify which sources would be made inactive." [Emphasis mine]
     
    Unfortunately, we do not know what journals they have chosen to stop indexing; again, per the ERIC Help Desk, "There has been a delay in notifying publishers impacted by this content reduction due to the government reduction in force. Once publishers have been notified, a final list of retained sources...will be posted." In the meantime, librarians are working to put together a list of journals that have been notified they will no longer be indexed.
     
    SUNY provides us with upgraded access to ERIC through the EBSCOhost interface. This makes it easier for users to access full text from our other databases, and it provides a more consistent search experience across our databases. If I've ever done instruction with your classes, this is the interface we used. However, EBSCO's interface does not change the fact that the underlying indexing comes from ERIC. I am not aware of any actions EBSCO is planning to take, if any. 
     
    While we have access to other education research databases here at Oswego, I felt you should know about this news since ERIC and Education Combo (which includes ERIC) are among the university's most used databases. 


    ------------------------------
    Laura Harris
    Web Services and Distance Learning Librarian
    SUNY Oswego
    She/Her/Hers
    ------------------------------

    Original Message