Powering Evidence-Based Practice, One Search at a Time
As an academic librarian, I genuinely enjoy assisting students with their research projects. However, there have been times when I felt frustrated because I didn’t know how well the students understood what I was teaching. Traditional worksheets and quizzes didn’t provide me with insights into their thinking. Then, I discovered Thinking Routines from Harvard’s Project […]
Bias in biomedical literature can greatly affect healthcare choices. If not identified, they may lead to inadequate or even dangerous medical practices. Whether you’re a clinician, student, or researcher, recognizing the prevalent biases in biomedical literature is essential for making informed decisions. This guide will help you understand how these biases infiltrate research, identify warning […]
Healthcare researchers often turn to literature reviews to gather and interpret existing evidence on various topics. Depending on your project’s objectives and limitations, various reviews may be best suited. Whether it’s a narrative review that tells a story, a systematic review that examines every study thoroughly, or a rapid review that delivers swift insights, choosing […]
Rapid reviews have emerged as a practical and timely approach in healthcare research, where time is critical and decisions have life-altering consequences. Compared to traditional systematic reviews, these are streamlined, more adaptable, and especially useful in crises like pandemics or urgent policy changes. But here’s the twist: while quicker, they can sometimes compromise rigor. So, […]
Scoping reviews are similar to systematic reviews but differ significantly in their purpose and method, making it important to examine these distinctions. They systematically analyze existing literature without the limits of quality assessment, revealing overarching patterns, research gaps, and valuable insights in various research landscapes. This article is the fourth installment in the ongoing series, […]
A systematic review often comes hand in hand with a meta-analysis, but it’s important to note that not every systematic review includes one. While systematic reviews summarize the existing evidence, meta-analyses go further by statistically assessing that evidence, giving us deeper insights. This article on meta-analysis is the third installment in the Understanding Literature Reviews […]
All types of literature reviews in this series are systematic reviews in that they are all done systematically, but only one kind of review is given the label systematic review. This is the second article in the Understanding Literature Reviews in Healthcare series. The first article discussed narrative reviews. Systematic Reviews A systematic review is […]
The phrase “systematic review” is commonly used in health sciences to refer to any review that follows well-structured procedures. However, this has created a misunderstanding that a systematic review is the sole valid literature review for healthcare decisions. This view misses out on the diverse range of other review types that can be useful. As […]
I started this blog to share my knowledge and strategies for efficiently and effectively finding the best available evidence. Whether you’re conducting a systematic review, searching for clinical guidelines, or simply trying to stay up to date with the latest medical literature, my goal is to make healthcare evidence more accessible and manageable.
