Answered By: Denise R. Gehring, MSLIS, MA
Last Updated: Feb 01, 2024     Views: 10

Depending on your need, the librarian can be a consultant or a research partner/co-author in the research and writing of systematic and scoping reviews. 

If the APU Librarian is listed as a co-author, they will work with your team to design and report thorough search strategies based on guidelines and standards set forth by Cochrane, PRISMA, JBI and IOM.  Our librarians provide:

  • Comprehensive, replicable search strategies for multiple databases and grey literature resources.
  • Mendeley or Zotero library of de-duplicated results or RIS file of de-duplicated results.
  • Excel workbook of search results.
  • Write the complete search methodology that can be included in the final systematic review/scoping review manuscript
  • A completed PRISMA flow diagram in png format.
  • For more info see how your librarian can help

According to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, authorship should be based on the following four criteria:

  • Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
  • Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
  • Final approval of the version to be published; AND
  • 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.

The search strategies librarians design and implement are a substantial contribution to the design of the study while the citation data we acquire and organize is a substantial acquisition of data. The written methods regarding the design of the search, resources searched, and data retrieved fall under drafting the work. We will provide any requested feedback and revisions as well as final approval of the written work. If we agree to be an author of a systematic or scoping review, we will stand behind the accuracy and integrity of our role in the project. 

We ask that you do not include your collaborating librarian's search methods or search strategies in a published manuscript unless they are included as an author.


If you would prefer to not include a librarian as an author, we are happy to provide guidance on a search you design on your own. 

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