Article type
Abstract
"Background: COBE, the Brazilian Center for Evidence-Based Research, is a training centre for Systematic Reviews and other evidence synthesis methods based at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) in Brazil. Its mission encompasses researchers’ training, as well as publishing articles and books on evidence-synthesis methods to disseminate knowledge and popularize science and technology to broaden access to scientific information.
Objectives: To describe COBE's experience in producing quality books about evidence synthesis methods.
Methods: COBE’s book production methodology is structured and collaborative. The process starts with meetings to define the book’s objectives and chapter’s structure. First, the organizers invite prominent authors on the topics to lead each chapter, ensuring quality and diversity of perspectives. The leader is responsible for conducting the initial draft and for being ahead of the team. The leader sends the chapter version to the organizers, who proofread them to ensure cohesion. All books are written in Portuguese, using accessible language to reach out to readers at different levels of knowledge on the topic, including undergraduate and graduate students and professors. COBE uses its own financial resources to produce printed books and eBooks.
Results: Three books have been produced by the team. The book ""Systematic Literature Reviews: A Practical Guide"" was published in 2020 and guides the reader through all the steps for the development of a systematic review. The second one, ""Risk of Bias in Systematic Reviews"", published in 2021, assists the reader with the challenge of assessing bias in studies, providing guidelines and tools for this analysis. Finally, the book ""GRADE Approach to Assessing Certainty of Evidence in Systematic Reviews"", published in 2023, explores the GRADE approach to assessing the certainty of evidence to enhance the transparency and reliability of results. Together, these materials aim to improve the practice and quality of Systematic Reviews, which are essential for clinical decision-making.
Conclusions: By publishing these books, the team has made topics typically available only in English accessible to the Portuguese-speaking scientific community, addressing dense and complex topics with real-life examples. Therefore, COBE has contributed to the dissemination and popularization of research synthesis methods in Brazil.
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Objectives: To describe COBE's experience in producing quality books about evidence synthesis methods.
Methods: COBE’s book production methodology is structured and collaborative. The process starts with meetings to define the book’s objectives and chapter’s structure. First, the organizers invite prominent authors on the topics to lead each chapter, ensuring quality and diversity of perspectives. The leader is responsible for conducting the initial draft and for being ahead of the team. The leader sends the chapter version to the organizers, who proofread them to ensure cohesion. All books are written in Portuguese, using accessible language to reach out to readers at different levels of knowledge on the topic, including undergraduate and graduate students and professors. COBE uses its own financial resources to produce printed books and eBooks.
Results: Three books have been produced by the team. The book ""Systematic Literature Reviews: A Practical Guide"" was published in 2020 and guides the reader through all the steps for the development of a systematic review. The second one, ""Risk of Bias in Systematic Reviews"", published in 2021, assists the reader with the challenge of assessing bias in studies, providing guidelines and tools for this analysis. Finally, the book ""GRADE Approach to Assessing Certainty of Evidence in Systematic Reviews"", published in 2023, explores the GRADE approach to assessing the certainty of evidence to enhance the transparency and reliability of results. Together, these materials aim to improve the practice and quality of Systematic Reviews, which are essential for clinical decision-making.
Conclusions: By publishing these books, the team has made topics typically available only in English accessible to the Portuguese-speaking scientific community, addressing dense and complex topics with real-life examples. Therefore, COBE has contributed to the dissemination and popularization of research synthesis methods in Brazil.
"