Knowledge Synthesis

Knowledge synthesis is an umbrella term for literature reviews that use transparent and reproducible methods to gather and synthesize research studies in order to answer a research question. Examples of knowledge synthesis reviews include:

• Systematic reviews – a review that seeks to answer a research question by identifying, selecting, critically appraising, and synthesizing all relevant research.
• Scoping reviews – a review that seeks to map the existing literature on a topic.

Services for U of G researchers

We provide training, expertise, and support to U of G researchers who are conducting knowledge syntheses. We can help you with:

• Selecting an appropriate type of review
• Refining a review topic
• Identifying common components of a review
• Locating guidance on methods for conducting reviews
• Developing a search strategy by choosing databases, generating keywords, and using controlled vocabulary, operators, and search modifiers
• Learning to extract and manage citations

Currently our service does not include:

• Conducting knowledge syntheses on behalf of researchers
• Executing searches
• Extracting or managing citations
• Providing advice on critical appraisal, data extraction, or data synthesis (including meta-analysis)
• Co-authorship

Get started with Covidence

Covidence is a cloud-based review management software that facilitates the collaborative completion of knowledge syntheses. U of G Covidence accounts provide unlimited reviews, collaborator accounts, and customer support.

Who can use Covidence?

• Covidence is available to all U of G and University of Guelph-Humber affiliated faculty, staff, students, alumni, and retirees.
  • Alumni or retirees without a U of G email address? Contact library@uoguelph.ca.
• If you are collaborating on a review with someone who is not affiliated with U of G, you can invite them to join your review. If they do not have a Covidence account, they will be prompted to create one free of charge, but they will not be able to create any reviews of their own.

Get assistance

• Connect with us to ask a question or to book an appointment. 
• Find online self-help materials on conducting a systematic review, scoping review, or other knowledge synthesis
• Get help with Covidence:
  • Learn the basics of Covidence on the Covidence Academy page. 
  • Search the Covidence Knowledge Base for answers to common questions.
  • Join a monthly live Covidence 101 webinar or watch a recent recording.
  • Contact Covidence support.
• Learn more about our appointments.

Upcoming workshops

There are no upcoming workshops at the moment. Check back soon for more, or browse our full workshop calendar to see the other workshops we offer.