Background An increasing number of qualitative evidence syntheses papers are found in
health care literature. Many of these syntheses use a strictly exhaustive search strategy to …

Actively seeking the disconfirming or deviant case is properly regarded as a hallmark of
trustworthiness in primary qualitative research. The need to subject emergent theory to such …

Selecting Studies and Collecting Data Page 1 7 Selecting studies and collecting data Edited
by Julian PT Higgins and Jonathan J Deeks Key Points r Assessment of eligibility of studies …

This chapter provides authors (who already have experience of undertaking qualitative
research and qualitative evidence synthesis) with additional guidance on undertaking a …

Background Methods need to be further developed to include non‐randomised studies
(NRS) in systematic reviews of the effects of health care interventions. NRS are often …

Background Investigations of transparency, reproducibility and replicability in science have
been directed largely at individual studies. It is just as critical to explore these issues in …

The role of critical appraisal of qualitative studies in systematic reviews remains an ongoing
cause for debate. Key to such a debate is whether quality assessment can or should be …

Background Identifying and approaching eligible participants for recruitment to research
studies usually relies on healthcare professionals. This process is sometimes hampered by …

Systematic reviews seek to identify all research that meets the eligibility criteria. However,
this goal can be compromised by 'non‐reporting bias'. The convincing evidence for the …

Background Research studies are essential to improving healthcare. However, many fail to
recruit their planned number of participants. There are many interventions that researchers …