How to increase the reliability of environmental evidence reviews

For authors, editors, and peer reviewers

A major goal of CEEDER is to support authors, editors and peer reviewers in producing more reliable evidence reviews. Some of the actions are really quite simple but could make a big difference to review reliability and therefore to the collective evidence base.

For authors:

When planning an evidence review please make use of the following open access materials and tools:

  • Consult the CEE Guidelines and Standards for evidence synthesis. You do not have to meet all of the standards but meeting some key ones may increase reliability.
  • Use the appropriate reporting checklist provided by ROSES
  • Consider using freely available software that helps you plan and conduct your review – for example CADIMA
  • Check your planning for your review with the CEESAT for Evidence Reviews or CEESAT for Evidence Overviews criteria. Try and address aspects of your methodology that may result in low ratings.
  • Write a protocol and, where possible, publish it and have it independently reviewed.

For editors:

When considering an evidence review for publication make use of the following open access materials:

  • Ask authors to complete and submit the reporting checklists provided by ROSES
  • Check the review manuscript against the Checklist for Editors and Peer Reviewers of evidence reviews, or ask peer reviewers to do this.

For reviewers:

When asked to peer review evidence reviews:

  • Use the appropriate reporting checklist provided by ROSES to enable fast feedback on missing information.
  • Check the review manuscript against Checklist for Editors and Peer Reviewers of evidence reviews. This will enable you to make fast and efficient comments on review rigour.