Evidence review and synthesis methods guide

The guide is structured around the stages of an evidence review, from developing the research question(s) to communicating the results. In each section we set out what we are looking for in our evidence reviews and give examples and suggestions to help reviewers in their work.

This guide has been produced to support evidence reviewers, academics, researchers, and policy makers to collate, synthesise and communicate evidence on safe work and safety science (including safety systems and processes). The guide includes standard approaches that are applicable to every evidence review (i.e., developing an evidence review protocol, conducting literature searches and selecting studies, data extraction, quality assessment, data synthesis, and interpreting the results). The document also includes guidance on how to apply other approaches such as equity considerations in evidence reviews and conducting case study synthesis.

The document is intended as an introduction to our review approach, not a comprehensive guide. It is not intended to be prescriptive, and we encourage evidence reviewers to adapt methods to the specific context of their projects and to apply innovative approaches where confident to do so in line with the developments in the field.

If you wish to use and reference the Evidence Review and Synthesis Methods Guide for the Global Safety Evidence Centre in your own work, please include the following DOI: https://doi.org/10.60743/y32c-qf15

Example Citation in IEEE Style:

Lloyd's Register Foundation, “Evidence Review and Synthesis Methods Guide for the Global Safety Evidence Centre.” Lloyd's Register Foundation, 2025, doi: 10.60743/Y32C-QF15.