KCU Libraries: Systematic Reviews: Partnering with a Librarian

KCU Libraries Systematic Reviews/Meta-Analysis Policy

KCU Libraries offers two (2) levels of assistance in systematic reviews/meta-analysis (and any additional types of structured reviews) services to our KCU patrons*.

Consultative services are defined as assistance only, to be restricted to a set level of help librarians offer during the development of a systematic review/meta-analysis.
Partner/Co-Author services are defined as a level of work and assistance that is beyond the scope of a regular librarian consultation in systematic reviews/meta-analysis. Due to the in-depth and time-intensive nature of this work, library faculty can only work on a limited number of literature searches at a time. The service may not be immediately available if we have already reached our maximum capacity. In such cases, we will contact you with an estimated start date.

*Patron of KCU is defined as student, staff, faculty, or others financially associated with KCU.

Due to the large volume of requests for evidence synthesis support KCU Librarians receive, we have created an Evidence Synthesis Form. If you would like assistance in completing a project that requires evidence synthesis, such as a systematic review, meta-analysis, scoping review, or rapid review, please complete this form. This ensures the librarian you will work with has all necessary information and details on your project to plan for your consultation.

Prior to submitting your request form, please review the Systematic Review library guide.

Role	Tasks	Tier 1: Consultative	Tier 2: Research Partner / Co-author
Topic Development	Guidance on process and steps	Yes	Yes
	Background searching for past and upcoming reviews	Yes	Yes
Development of Eligibility Criteria	Development and/or refinement of review topic	Yes	Yes
	Assistance with refinement of PICO (population, intervention(s), comparator(s), and key questions	Yes	Yes
	Guidance on study types to include	Yes	Yes
Protocol Creation and Registration	Guidance on protocol registration	Yes	Yes
Searching	Identification of databases for searches	Yes	Yes
	Instruction in search techniques and methods	Yes	Yes
	Training in citation management software use for managing and sharing results	Yes	Yes
	Assistance translating searches to other databases	Yes	Yes
	Development and execution of searches	No	Yes
	Downloading search results to citation management software and removing duplicates	No	Yes
	Documentation of search strategies	No	Yes
	Management of search results	No	Yes
Study Selection and Extraction	Guidance on methods	Yes	Yes
	Guidance on data extraction, and management techniques and software	Yes	Yes
Writing and Publishing	Suggestions of journals to target for publication	No	Yes
	Drafting of literature search description in "Methods" section	No	Yes
	Creation of PRISMA diagram	No	Yes
	Drafting of literature search appendix	No	Yes
	Review other manuscript sections and final draft	No	Yes
	Librarian contributions warrant co-authorship	No	Yes