Synthesize Knowledge: Systematic Reviews and Evidence Synthesis

We offer a two-tiered service for knowledge synthesis projects, including systematic reviews (SR) and scoping reviews. To get started, book a consultation with a subject librarian in your discipline. Not sure whom to contact? Chat with us online, or request a consultation to be matched with a specialist.   

Education-oriented Service

In the basic, education-orientated service, librarians can consult with members of the Penn community to help provide an overview of all steps in the knowledge synthesis process, from start to completion, as well as provide search strategy advice. In this service, we can offer to:

• Consult on systematic and scoping review processes and guidelines
• Assist with refining research topics and initial search strategies
• Assist with writing inclusion and exclusion criteria
• Recommend databases and other resources to search
• Advise on identifying controlled vocabulary and keywords
• Advise on citation management methods and tools

Advanced Service

In the advanced service, which is limited to teams led by Penn faculty, librarians join the knowledge synthesis team as a full member and can build and implement the literature search on behalf of the team. In this service, we can offer to:

• Gather appropriate controlled vocabulary & keywords in conjunction with team members  
• Conduct literature searches across multiple databases
• Advise on gray literature resources
• Provide assistance with citation management
• Advise on retrieving full-text articles
• Refine and update searches
• Write the methodology section for publication
• Review manuscript
• Maintain communication with other team members