Systematic searching is commonly used for evidence synthesis methods in which researchers are expected to conduct a comprehensive search and to be transparent about their process.
The most well-known type of evidence synthesis is a systematic review.
Systematic Review:
"[A] systematic review seeks to systematically search for, appraise and synthesis research evidence...Systematic reviews seek to draw together all known knowledge on a topic area" (Grant & Booth, 2009, p. 102).
Campbell Collaboration
In the social sciences, the Campbell Collaboration is the primary entity that sets standards for evidence synthesis methods.
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Grant, M. J., & Booth, A. (2009). A typology of reviews: An analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 26(2), 91–108. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x
Most relevant to anthropology is qualitative evidence synthesis.
Qualitative evidence synthesis (QES):
"Method for integrating or comparing the findings from qualitative studies. It looks for ‘themes’ or ‘constructs’ that lie in or across individual qualitative studies" (Grant & Booth, 2009, p. 94).
"The goal of such a qualitative meta-synthesis is not aggregative in the sense of "adding studies together," as with a meta-analysis. On the contrary, it is interpretative in broadening understanding of a particular phenomenon" (Booth, 2006, p. 422).
QES and the Campbell Collaboration
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Booth A. (2006). “Brimful of STARLITE”: Toward standards for reporting literature searches. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 94(4), 421-429.
Grant, M. J., & Booth, A. (2009). A typology of reviews: An analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 26(2), 91–108. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x
Riese and colleagues (2014) note that qualitative evidence synthesis has not been widely adopted in anthropology, but argue that it could be a useful method for the field. They assert that QES is compatible with anthropological methodology, that it could easily be adopted within applied anthropology, and that it "can be carried out in a manner that is consistent with an interpretive epistemology" (p. 28-29).
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Riese, H., Carlsen, B., & Glenton, C. (2014). Qualitative research synthesis: How the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts. Anthropology in Action, 21(2), 23–31. https://doi.org/10.3167/aia.2014.210204
Additional search techniques may be helpful when performing a systematic search as part of an evidence synthesis method.
Hollier, C. (2021). How truncation, wildcards, stemming and lemmatization help your literature search. IFIS Food and Health Information. https://www.ifis.org/en/research-skills-blog/understanding-truncation-wildcards-stemming-and-lemmatization
Kline, E., Labelle, P., Premji, Z., Sgourakis Jenkins, A., & Young, S. (2025). ESMIG’s evidence synthesis resources guide. https://acrl.libguides.com/ESMIG/Evidence_Synthesis_Resources/stage