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Scoping Reviews in the Social Sciences

Levels of librarian support and how to credit

Much of the work a librarian does to assist researchers falls under their everyday job responsibilities. However, systematic reviews, scoping reviews, and meta-analyses, often require greater librarian involvement and include the librarian as a partner in the research project. When these levels of assistance lead to a published paper, it is appropriate to credit the librarian. Due to workload and time constraints, a librarian may only be able to assist at a level one.

With this in mind, librarians can offer 3 basic levels of support:

  • Level 1, Uncredited - regular librarian work
    • Overview of review process and best practices
    • Identifying keywords and databases
    • Recommending tools
    • Single consultation
  • Level 2, Acknowledgement or Contributor note
    • Troubleshooting search strategy
    • Data management consultation
    • Help registering Protocol
    • More than one consultation
  • Level 3, Authorship (one or more of the following)
    • Using search strategy or filter developed by librarian
    • Help registering a protocol
    • Citation retrieval and management
    • Hand searching for articles
    • Assisting with paper's methods section
    • Section edits

Suggestions come from University of Texas Arlington Libraries, Scoping Reviews Guide, CC BY-NC 4.0