Last year (August and November 2015), the Library partnered with Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK)’s Behavioral Research Methods Core Facility led by faculty from the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences to expand our Systematic Review Workshop and offer a customized two-part training for City College of New York (CCNY) students, as well as, staff and other research colleagues collaborating with MSK researchers involved in the Translational Research Education and Training to Eliminate Tobacco Disparities (TREND) Program. TREND, funded by an NCI P20 Planning Grant, is dedicated to building capacity to pursue tobacco-related disparities research training and educational opportunities at CCNY and MSK. Who could pass on such an amazing training experience?
Why collaborate on a Systematic Review? A systematic review is an in-depth literature review centered on a research question that tries to identify, appraise, select, and synthesize all high quality research evidence relevant to that question. This type of publication actually requires a team to collaborate in reviewing the search results (literature retrieved) and determining which papers will be included and excluded from the research. There are many steps and tasks required to produce a successful systematic review and the MSK Reference Librarians had a group of extremely interested researchers who wanted to do just that! Publish a Systematic Review!
Attending these workshops, TREND Scholars (research trainees) received an overview of what is entailed in conducting this type of research, an understanding of the available resources, and the dos and don’ts for a successful systematic review publication.
Evaluations from these workshops clearly showed the value delivered – one attendee shared that the workshop was “very detailed and helped us understand the full scope of systematic review writing.” Another indicated that the MSK Librarians were “very knowledgeable about the necessary steps and resources to perform systematic reviews….” With this type of feedback, we can only look forward to continuing our partnership in offering these workshops to TREND Scholars. These individuals have and will receive invaluable training in how to conduct a systematic review and be able to contribute high quality papers to the growing body of literature in their field of study.
And it doesn’t stop here, these workshops foster collaboration between MSK Reference Librarians, and tobacco-related disparities researchers at MSK and CCNY. Through these workshops, research trainees at CCNY can develop partnerships with MSK researchers and feel comfortable tackling their first systematic review. They can also partner with an MSK Librarian to determine the best search strategies and databases to use, and learn about other information resources worth leveraging to ensure a meticulous process is achieved in preparing a systematic review manuscript for publication.
The MSK Library is continually evolving to meet the growing information needs of our clients. If you are thinking about conducting a Systematic Review, you don’t have to look too far to find the right partner and co-author. To learn more about our Systematic Review workshops and service, please do not hesitate to contact Donna Gibson, Director of Library Services.