Methodology guides for evidence synthesis 2010-2025: An evidence and gap map
Mapping review
|Published
Evidence synthesis as research design and methods are in continuous development. The present work will contribute to updated information that is relevant to the internal cluster's own work and to researchers and other people outside the NIPH who are interested in knowledge summaries.
Key message
Evidence synthesis as research design has developed considerably in recent decades, not least in terms of prevalence and methodology. An updated overview of methodological guidance for different evidence synthesis types can help ensure their quality and validity.
We prepared an evidence and gap map of methodology guides for 13 evidence synthesis types: Evidence and gap map, health technology assessment, mixed-method review, qualitative evidence synthesis, rapid review, realist synthesis, scoping review, umbrella review, and systematic review of the effect of interventions, cause, incidence, measurements and diagnostic accuracy, prognosis. The method guides had to be published 2010-2025.
We included 104 methodology guides, which ranged in frequency from one for systematic reviews of prevalence studies to 43 for systematic reviews of the effect of interventions. Over half were published as articles, 22% were (e-)books or books and 20% were article series. The remainder were in report format or part of a website. Most of the methodology guides derive from health sciences, and there is a trend of more methodology guides being published throughout the period investigated. We present the results in an interactive digital (visual) evidence and gap map and descriptively in a report.
It is important to understand the key characteristics, methods and areas of application, and to use relevant methodology guides when planning and conducting an evidence synthesis. Therefore, we suggest a more detailed review of the methodology guides to assess their suitability for practical use. This evidence and gap map may be usefully updated with new methodology guides in 2-3 years.