Technology for Research Synthesis: An Application of Sociotechnical Systems Theory

Evidence synthesis software has been developed to facilitate the conduct of systematic reviews. However, social work researchers may be unfamiliar with the range of software options available and unsure whether their evidence synthesis goals are best served by existing software. Evidence synthesis software can assist with organizing and monitoring the systematic review process and automating specific tasks, such as selecting studies and extracting data. Although automation of systematic review tasks is increasingly popular, evidence synthesists may not have considered the potential biases that can be introduced through the increased reliance on automated features. In light of the changing social and technical contexts of evidence synthesis, we provide a model of evidence synthesis for research teams to use collaboratively to assess how evidence synthesis software can facilitate the conduct of systematic reviews.