Psychology: Evidence-Based Practice

Levels of Evidence

Synthesis Reviews

Are you thinking of conducting a synthesis review (systematic review, scoping review, realist review, etc.)?

Consult this Synthesis Review Toolkit which was developed to guide individuals from various academic backgrounds through their journey of conducting a synthesis review.

Key Sources for Finding Evidence Reviews

Cochrane Library "A collection of databases that contain high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making. Cochrane reviews represent the highest level of evidence on which to base clinical treatment decisions". Includes:
License Information: This license was negotiated by the Saskatchewan Health Information Resources Program (SHIRP). There are no restrictions to the number of simultaneous users. Access is restricted to current students, faculty, and staff of the University of Saskatchewan, and to "walk-in" users of the University of Saskatchewan Library for educational, research, and non-commercial personal use. It is accessible in the library, on campus, and remotely. Systematic copying or downloading of electronic resource content, including the downloading of a full issue, is not permitted by Canadian and International Copyright law.

Cochrane Library Tip:

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews: choose the Advanced Search > Search Limits to limit to Cochrane Reviews.

APA PsycInfo To find find evidence-based reviews in PsycINFO:
License Information: This license was negotiated by the Health Knowledge Network for the Saskatchewan Information Resources Program (SHIRP). There are no restrictions to the number of simultaneous users. Access is restricted to current students, faculty, and staff of the University of Saskatchewan, and to "walk-in" users of the University of Saskatchewan Library for educational, research, and non-commercial personal use. It is accessible in the library, on campus, and remotely. Systematic copying or downloading of electronic resource content, including the downloading of a full issue, is not permitted by Canadian and International Copyright law.

PsycINFO Tips:

Search by subject headings: Evidence-Based Practice and Best Practices are both recognized subject headings. Combine both of these subject headings with a specific psychological term.
Limit by Methodology: Systematic Review is a Methodology limiter, so to is Meta Analysis (Additional Limits). The broader Literature Review is also available.

MEDLINE: Ovid MEDLINE Major bibliographic database for clinical medicine:
License Information: There are no restrictions to the number of simultaneous users. Access is restricted to current students, faculty, and staff of the University of Saskatchewan, and to "walk-in" users of the University of Saskatchewan Library for educational, research, and non-commercial personal use. It is accessible in the library, on campus, and remotely. Systematic copying or downloading of electronic resource content, including the downloading of a full issue, is not permitted by Canadian and International Copyright law. Access Note: When creating an Ovid personal account, users will be asked to sign an End User License Agreement. Existing users will be asked to update their accounts by signing this new agreement, effective March 2021.

MedLine Tip:

Limit to Systematic Reviews under Subject Subsets (Additional Limits).

EMBASE: Excerpta Medica & EMBASE Classic Biomedical and pharmaceutical database
License Information: This license was negotiated by the Health Knowledge Network. Access is restricted to four (4) simultaneous users. Access is restricted to current students, faculty, and staff of the University of Saskatchewan, and to "walk-in" users of the University of Saskatchewan Library for educational, research, and non-commercial personal use. It is accessible in the library, on campus, and remotely. Systematic copying or downloading of electronic resource content, including the downloading of a full issue, is not permitted by Canadian and International Copyright law.

Embase Tip:

Limit to EBM-Evidence Based Medicine (or a subset, ex: Systematic Review) under Additional Limits.

CINAHL Plus with Full Text: Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature Nursing and allied health database
License Information: This license was negotiated by the Health Knowledge Network for the Saskatchewan Information Resources Program (SHIRP). There are no restrictions to the number of simultaneous users. Access is restricted to current students, faculty, and staff of the University of Saskatchewan, and to "walk-in" users of the University of Saskatchewan Library for educational, research, and non-commercial personal use. It is accessible in the library, on campus, and remotely. Systematic copying or downloading of electronic resource content, including the downloading of a full issue, is not permitted by Canadian and International Copyright law.

CINAHL Tips:

Under "Refine your results", choose "Show More"; Evidence-Based Practice is an option.
In the Publications Type menu, you can select Systematic Review.

What is Evidence-Based Practice?

The APA defines evidence-based practice (EBP) as "the integration of the best available research with clinical expertise in the context of patient characteristics, culture and preferences".

Other commonly-used terminology used within EBP is Empirically Supported Treatments (EST) and Evidence-Based Psychological Interventions (EBPI).

Evidence-Based Behavioral Practice (EBBP)

The Evidence Based Behavioural Practice site "creates training resources to help bridge the gap between behavioral health research and practice".

This comprehensive website includes: