Evidence synthesis
We define evidence synthesis as a systematic and rigorous approach to gather, analyse, and integrate available research evidence on a specific topic or research question. This includes different methods of evidence synthesis, such as systematic reviews, overviews, meta-analyses, scoping reviews, rapid reviews, realist reviews, clinical guidelines, health economic modelling, and qualitative syntheses.
Tools will be considered to have been developed for use in evidence synthesis if:
- The primary report of the tool specifically mentions that one potential use of the tool is in the context of evidence synthesis, and if the tool was not explicitly developed for an alternative purpose e.g. general critical appraisal or peer review OR
- The tool is targeted as assessing the validity of an evidence synthesis
LATITUDES is not restricted to any single topic area – validity tools developed for evidence synthesis in any research area are eligible for inclusion, although our initial focus for identifying tools is on health research.