Evidence Synthesis: Protocol

Best practice is to register or publish a protocol of your evidence synthesis.

A protocol is an outline of your evidence synthesis and includes your research question, tested search strategy, finalized inclusion and exclusion criteria, and a plan for data extraction and quality assessment.

Disseminating a protocol increases the transparency and credibility of your research and reduces duplicate projects. Publishing a protocol is sometimes a journal requirement for publication. 

Completing a protocol also helps the research team plan and organize their research efforts. 

Common elements of a protocol:

• Title
• Introduction and objectives
• Eligibility criteria
• Information sources and search terms
• Study selection process 
• Data extraction
• Risk of bias assessment 
• Data synthesis and analysis plan
• Funding and conflict of interest statements
• Amendments 

Common places to register an evidence synthesis and acquire protocol guidance include: 

• PROSPERO
• Open Science Framework (OSF)
• Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI)