What we do and how it works

The MSDI Evidence Review Service (ERS) connects the best-available knowledge to decision-makers when they need it. We take a client-centred approach to our work with and for governments, philanthropists, research funders, businesses, and service providers to gain a deep understanding of their context, knowledge needs, priorities and timeframes. We then harness our review expertise and the resources of Australia’s largest university, Monash University, to find, appraise and summarise relevant research. Finally, we develop and deliver bespoke information products appropriate to clients’ needs – be it infographics, written reports or audio/visual communications. At the core of our approach is a deep investment in understanding the context and scope of clients’ projects to ensure that we’re asking the right questions, and then tailoring to our clients’ timelines and scopes. For some insight into the key principles of our approach please have a look at our freely-available ‘review navigator’.

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Who we are

The ERS is a specialist team of review scientists who have a track record of projects with ‘real world’ relevance and impact. We’re established leaders in review science who have shared our knowledge in top-tier academic journals including The Lancet and Implementation Science; in public-facing outlets such as The Conversation and The Mandarin; and through regular media appearances. The ERS is also committed to using evidence reviews to support lasting positive social change, as can be seen through our collaboration with McMaster University, Canada to curate Social Systems Evidence (socialsystemsevidence.org) – an open-access database indexing over 5,000 pre-appraised reviews e against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as a broad range of government program and service areas.

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What makes us different

By canvassing existing knowledge about critical problems, the ERS provides clients with evidence-based options that help them avoid investment in strategies with unknown effectiveness. We’re uniquely positioned to comprehensively access, interpret and translate research knowledge into practical, actionable insights, because we combine our review expertise with to Monash’s extensive range of subscription research databases and access to relationships with researchers who have deep content-area knowledge across all major academic disciplines.

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Get in touch with us

The primary ways to engage with the ERS include:

1. Rapid desktop Evidence Reviews - We specialise in rapid desktop evidence reviews taking between one day and three months, as well as longer systematic and scoping reviews. We offer bespoke packages of review and review training services which deliver an agreed number of reviews relevant to knowledge needs. All our reviews can be periodically updated and packaged into online citation libraries to stay up to date and reduce duplication of effort over time.

2. Qualitative Practice Reviews - Practice reviews examine ‘what’s happening on the ground’ through one-on-one, or small group, interviews with people who have experience and/or expertise in the area. These enable insights into the intersection between research knowledge and local feasibility and acceptability.

3. Prioritisation and Co-design Processes - We have specialist expertise in multi-stakeholder development and prioritisation of research questions, policy or other interventions. This informs our reviews and supports organisations and communities to methodically and transparently determine a course of action amongst competing priorities and limited budgets.

4. Teaching, Training and Consulting - We share our knowledge, skills, and experience through tailor made lectures, training programmes, and executive education offerings and offer review expertise as part of larger research or other projects.

Contact us to discuss your requirements.