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Librarian co-authorship

Working on an evidence synthesis project?

Whether it's a systematic review, scoping review or another form of evidence synthesis, librarians are expert searchers and can partner with you as a co-author on your review.

 

As a librarian co-author, we will contribute to the following aspects of the project:

  • Search strategy development in consultation with the review team
  • Translation of the primary database search to other databases/platforms
  • Organise a review of the primary/secondary search strategies to be conducted by another librarian using the PRESS checklist
  • Results exported to EndNote and into Covidence for de-duplication 
  • Write up the search methodology (as per PRISMA)
  • Proofread and edit manuscript before submission
  • Update the searches if it's been over a year 

What we need from you:

  • A commitment to see the project through to publication
  • A commitment to follow relevant guidance and standards (e.g. PRISMA 2020)
  • A team of 2 or more for screening
  • Register a protocol via PROSPERO or similar 
  • Regular communication and progress updates

 

Please note: All requests by staff* will be considered but due to the significant amount of time and expertise required for a systematic review we are not able to accept all requests. If we are unable to partner, we always provide training and guidance.

*This service is not available to students.

Authorship guidelines

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICJME) recommends the following 4 criteria are met for authorship:

  1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
  2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
  3. Final approval of the version to be published; AND
  4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

ICMJE. (2024, January 24). Defining the role of authors and contributors. https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html

The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) also provide best practice guidelines for authorship and contributorship.

Check out their website for resources.

CRediT or Contributor Roles Taxonomy statement includes 14 roles typically played by contributors to research outputs.

Increasingly, more journals require authors to include a CRediT statement when submitting their manuscript.

For more information about each of these roles refer to the CRediT site.

Aamodt, M., Huurdeman, H., & Strømme, H. (2019). Librarian co-authored systematic reviews are associated with lower risk of bias compared to systematic reviews with acknowledgement of librarians or no participation by librarians. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 14(4):103-27. https://doi.org/10.18438/eblip29601

Price, C. (2024, Jan 24). The librarian's role in a systematic review team. Covidence Blog. https://www.covidence.org/blog/the-librarians-role-in-a-systematic-review-team/

Logan, J. (2023). Why do researchers co-author evidence syntheses with librarians? A mixed-methods study. Research Synthesis Methods, 14(3), 489-503. doi:10.1002/jrsm.1629

Meert, D., Torabi, N., & Costella, J. (2016). Impact of librarians on reporting of the literature searching component of pediatric systematic reviews. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 104(4), 267–277. https://doi.org/10.3163/1536-5050.104.4.004

Rethlefsen, M. L., Farrell, A. M., Osterhaus Trzasko, L. C., & Brigham, T. J. (2015). Librarian co-authors correlated with higher quality reported search strategies in general internal medicine systematic reviews. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 68(6), 617–626. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2014.11.025