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Evidence syntheses

Staff at the CEBA carry out evidence syntheses for stakeholders to underpin decision-making. Examples of current and past syntheses are on our projects page. The type of methodology used to collate and evaluate existing research depends on the question and timescale available. However, all the methods used to synthesise evidence are transparent and aim to reduce bias when searching for and analysing evidence. 

If you would like us to synthesise evidence for a particular topic or question to support your decision-making please contact us.

We can offer:

• Training for policy staff, researchers (including PhD students), and for industry interested in working on evidence syntheses. Training courses can be held at Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ or at your own site.
• Bespoke advice and support for individuals/review teams planning or undertaking their own evidence syntheses
• Placements at the CEBA where you can shadow and work with staff undertaking evidence syntheses in the Centre.

Training

At the Centre for Evidence-Based Agriculture we can tailor training courses for all aspects of food and agriculture-related evidence syntheses such as systematic review, systematic mapping and rapid evidence assessments, at a level to suit your requirements. With the   (University of London) we have previously delivered systematic review training for the  (EFSA) over a three year period, delivering a total of nine EFSA training courses in systematic reviews and systematic review protocol design for food and feed safety risk assessments. We recently delivered training and placements under CEETOP a NERC funded training initative. More info on the CEETOP courses can be found at the bottom of the page. If you are interested in training tailored to your own requirements please contact us do discuss this further.

Advice and support

We provide a tailored support service for review teams setting up or carrying out evidence syntheses/collations. Advice is available for all aspects of methodology and a range of different evidence syntheses/collations, including systematic review, systematic mapping and quick scoping reviews. We also provide guidance for teams needing to summarise review outputs for policy makers and practitioners, for example through policy briefs. Review teams will benefit most from feedback and advice if they contact us prior to the draft protocol being written. Costs are dependent on the needs of the team and level of support required in hours/days.

Please contact us to discuss your requirements.

Placements

Placements are availaible if you are interested in shadowing CEBA staff  working on an actual review that we are involved in. This can help you understand what evidence synthese really involves, or enables you to gain experience on a specific stage of a synthesis eg.  literature searching and reference management, meta-analysis, narrative synthesis, qualitative evidence synthesis in a specific type of review. You may also choose to bring your own review to work on, with support of CEBA staff. Placement availability will depend on Centre activities so please contact us to discuss the opportunties further.