The Evidence Synthesis Methods Interest Group (ESMIG) held their first meeting of the semester on October 31, 2023 at 1PM EST via zoom. There were 29 participants.
Current Co Convener, Aimee Jenkins (University of Pittsburgh) welcomed the group, reminded members to please fill out the online interest survey if they have not already (https://forms.gle/y9badrpGeU7tZoZh7). She also introduced the new Co Convenor Amy Riegelman (University of Minnesota). Amy introduced the day’s speaker, Sarah Young (Carnegie Mellon University).
Sarah spoke about her work on the Open Learning Initiative, open and free course entitled, “Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis”. This course is currently free for all and includes learning modules on the systematic review process from the initial problem formation until the post completion step of updating a systematic review. Sarah explained that this course does emphasize the importance of working with an information specialist when conducting evidence synthesis. The team working on this course meets regularly and are interested in any feedback from those taking the course. Sarah also said that that they hope the course would remain free for all but that down the road they may charge for a certificate version of the course.
Sarah attended the Cochrane Colloquium in London September 4-6, 2023. She shared some of her experiences and take-aways with the group. She pointed out the usefulness of the sessions on scoping reviews, evidence maps and other types of evidence synthesis. Another session Sarah found useful highlighted citation chasing tools. She also advised us to be on the look out for some upcoming search hedges that are being worked on including: climate change impacts on health and black persons living in the United States. Research integrity and equity were themes at the colloquium as well. Sessions included handling preprints, predatory publishing, equity of participatory research and application of AI in living reviews. Sarah also mentioned she is looking forward to attending the Global Evidence Summit that will be held in Prague, Czech Republic next year.
Some links Sarah highlighted in the meeting:
Watch recordings from Cochrane London 2023 https://events.cochrane.org/colloquium-2023/recordings
Cochrane London 2023 Schedule https://events.cochrane.org/colloquium-2023/schedule
Abstracts accepted for the 27th Cochrane Colloquium https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD202301
Searching clinical trials registers: guide for systematic reviewers https://www.bmj.com/content/377/bmj-2021-068791
An open competition involving thousands of competitors failed to construct useful abstract classifiers for new diagnostic test accuracy systematic reviews https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jrsm.1649
Mapping reviews, scoping reviews, and evidence and gap maps (EGMs): the same but different— the “Big Picture” https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-023-02178-5
JBI Big Picture Review Family Chart https://mcusercontent.com/b7a3429cdeb2d9125de40e149/images/a364bee5-3b46-4e08-f346-83a245d58445.png
Next meeting will be held November Tuesday November 21, 2023 at 1PM EST via zoom. The following journal article will be discussed:
Jarvis, C., Gregory, J. M., Mortensen-Hayes, A., & McFarland, M. (2021). Borrowing trouble? The impact of a systematic review service on interlibrary loan borrowing in an academic health sciences library. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA, 109(1), 84