Research

All University of Regina faculty members/researchers/graduate students are eligible for Tier 1 service, provided that:

• A clear research question has been developed

All University of Regina faculty members/researchers are eligible for Tier 2 service, provided:

• Librarian workload allows
• An initial meeting is held to discuss timelines and the feasibility of the project/topic
• An initial protocol (describing the rationale, research questions, and planned methods) has been completed (or is very near completion)

Note: Librarians are not responsible for revising, validating, or executing searches for graded assignments.

Tier 1: Consultation

In Tier 1, the librarian may:

• Assist in refining a research question
• Develop a base search strategy: selecting appropriate keywords, subject headings and search operators and advanced searching syntax
• Suggest appropriate databases, grey literature sources and other information resources
• Offer strategies for advanced searching in specific databases/sources
• Advise on search filters/hedges to capture elements such as study designs, population groups, etc.
• Provide guidance on using a specific tool (e.g. Zotero, Mendeley) for managing citations and removing duplicate citations
• Advise on selecting and using a specific tool for screening citations and extracting data e.g. Covidence, SUMARI, etc.
• Introduce and suggest appropriate techniques and frameworks for synthesizing data
• Provide up to 5 hours of consultation time (this includes in-person meetings, emails, and preparation time). Additional consultation time may be available by request, if determined to be necessary for the research topic.
• At Tier 1, depending on the scope and extent of the librarian’s contributions, formal acknowledgement in the final manuscript may be appropriate

Tier 2: Collaboration

In Tier 2, the librarian may:

• Attend team meetings and provide relevant expertise
• Assist with research question refinement
• Contribute to protocol development
• Arrange for Peer Review of Electronic Search Strategies
• Design, test, translate and execute searches of bibliographic databases
• Search for grey literature
• Remove duplicate records from search results, record clean-up
• Provide literature search documentation, including a PRISMA flowchart
• Author relevant portions of the manuscript (e.g. Methods section)
• Editorial contributions to the final manuscript
• Participate in other activities as negotiated
• At Tier 2, authorship on any manuscripts completed as a result of the project is expected
Note: These service tiers are derived from those developed by Brock University Library (https://brocku.ca/library/systematic-reviews/).

Please fill out the Evidence Synthesis Project Intake form to request support for your project. Your responses to these questions will help us to assess our capacity to assist, as well as to connect you with the most appropriate librarian. We will get back to you with additional information within a week.

Please direct other questions to evidence.synthesis@uregina.ca and a member of our Evidence Synthesis Coordinating Team (Caitlin Bakker, Cara Bradley, Mary Chipanshi) will assist you.