This guide is intended for use by individuals at The Michener Institute researching academic practice. It provides a list of reference resources on this topic. The reference materials consist of relevant journal articles and online resources.
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The resources found in the 6S Pyramid contain evidence that will help you answer foreground questions (queries that bring together multiple concepts related to a specific clinical situation or research topic).
The 6S pyramid is arranged in a hierarchy, with the different levels outlined and colour-coded.
Use the concepts identified in your PICO or PS Question (found in the Forming Questions tab) to come up with appropriate search terms, remembering:
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Grey literature is "... information produced on all levels of government, academia, business and industry in electronic and print formats not controlled by commercial publishing i.e. where publishing is not the primary activity of the producing body."
Schnopfel J. Towards a Prague definition of grey literature. Presented at: Twelfth International Conference on Grey Literature: Transparency in Grey Literature. Grey Tech Approaches to High Tech Issues. Prague, 6-7 Dec 2010, Czech Republic. pp.11-26. Available from: http://archivesic.ccsd.cnrs.fr/sic_00581570/document
For more information on Grey Literature, here is a video by the University of Guelph.
Integrating information from the lower levels of the hierarchy with individual patient records, systems represent the ideal source of evidence for clinical decision-making.
Summaries are regularly updated clinical guidelines or textbooks that integrate evidence-based information about specific clinical problems.
Synopses of syntheses summarize the information found in systematic reviews. By drawing conclusions from evidence at lower levels of the pyramid, these synopses often provide sufficient information to support clinical action.
Commonly referred to as a systematic review, a synthesis is a comprehensive summary of all the evidence surrounding a specific research question.
Synopses of single studies summarize evidence from high-quality studies. The following evidence-based abstract journals are the best place to find this type of information.
Studies represent unique research conducted to answer specific clinical questions.
The CINAHL and PubMed databases can be searched using the Clinical Queries filter, limiting your results to specific clinical research areas: Therapy, Prognosis, Review, Qualitative, and Causation (Etiology).
For further information and tips on using the Clinical Queries filter, please visit the following links:
Meta-Searches search for evidence across multiple resources. These tools return information from all levels of the pyramid.