Protocols: The Foundation of Evidence Syntheses

Date: Wednesday, December 11, 2024, 1:00pm-2:30pm, Central Time

Protocols are the foundation of a quality evidence synthesis. Learn how you can encourage researchers to develop and register evidence synthesis protocols that support high-quality syntheses.

Margaret Foster and Sarah Jewell, two widely recognized experts on evidence syntheses and instructors for a number of MLA Systematic Review Services webinars, will dispel myths about protocols, detail how to determine the feasibility and rationale of a review, and share strategies for overcoming barriers to protocol development and registration.

Their guidance is based on these three keys to a successful protocol:

Every evidence synthesis project should have a protocol. (The protocol registration or publication is the first win for a review team and a nice addition to the team members’ vita!)
Completing a protocol before starting a review project is more efficient than building it as you go.
Protocols have standards for conducting and reporting.

You’ll learn through lecture, discussion, and by practicing with case studies. You’ll leave the webinar with a list of resources and the skills and confidence to work with researchers to ensure that they develop and report protocols effectively.

This webinar is an approved elective for Level II of the Systematic Review Services Specialization.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

Follow the protocol reporting standards, including PRISMA-P
Determine feasibility and rationale of the review
Select place of registration and publication of protocols
Identify potential roles of librarian for development of the protocol components

Audience

This webinar is an excellent beginning for understanding protocol development for medical librarians and other information professionals who wish to start new evidence synthesis services or to refine existing services.

Margaret Foster, MS, MPH, is the Evidence Synthesis and Scholarly Communication Librarian and the Head of the Center for Systematic Reviews and Research Syntheses at the Medical Sciences Library, Texas A&M University. She is the co-editor of the first book written on systematic reviews for librarians- Assembling the Pieces of a Systematic Review: A Guide for Librarians (2017) and recently Piecing Together Systematic Reviews and Other Evidence Syntheses (2022). She received the Lucretia W. McClure Excellence in Education Award in 2024 from the Medical Library Association.

Sarah T. Jewell, MLIS, is the Assistant Director for Clinical Services at the Samuel J. Wood Library of Weill Cornell Medicine and manager of the Myra Mahon Patient Resource Center in New York, New York. She is the co-editor of Assembling the Pieces of a Systematic Review: A Guide for Librarians (2017) and Piecing Together Systematic Reviews and Other Evidence Syntheses (2022).

Registration Information

Length: 1.5 hour webinar
Date: December 11, 2024, 1:00pm-2:30pm, Central Time
Technical information: The login will be sent in advance to access the live webinar, resources, evaluation, and certificate.
Register, participate, and earn 1.5 MLA continuing education (CE) contact hours.