Yu, X;
Wu, S;
Sun, Y;
Wang, P;
Wang, L;
Su, R;
Zhao, J;
... Chen, Y; + view all
(2023)
Exploring the diverse definitions of ‘evidence’: a scoping review.
BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine
10.1136/bmjebm-2023-112355.
(In press).
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Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To systematically collect and analyse diverse definitions of ‘evidence’ in both health and social sciences, and help users to correctly use the term ‘evidence’ and rethink what is the definition of ‘evidence’ in scientific research. DESIGN: Scoping review. METHODS: Definitions of evidence in the health sciences and social sciences were included. We have excluded the definition of evidence applied in the legal field, abstracts without full text, documents not published in either Chinese or English and so on. We established a multidisciplinary working group and systematically searched five electronic databases including Medline, Web of Science, EBSCO, the Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index and the Chinese Science Citation Database from their inception to 26 February 2022. We also searched websites and reviewed the reference lists of the identified studies. Six reviewers working in pairs, independently, selected studies according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and extracted information. Any differences were discussed in pairs, and if there was disagreement, it was resolved via discussion or with the help of a third reviewer. Reviewers extracted document characteristics, the original content for the definitions of ‘evidence’, assessed definitions as either intensional or extensional, and any citations for the given definition. RESULTS: Forty-nine documents were finally included after screening, and 68 definitions were obtained. After excluding duplicates, a total of 54 different definitions of ‘evidence’ were identified. There were 42 intensional definitions and 12 extensional definitions. The top three definiens were ‘information’, ‘fact’ and ‘research/study’. The definition of ‘evidence’ differed between health and social sciences. The term ‘research’ appeared most frequently in the definitions. CONCLUSIONS: The definition of ‘evidence’ has gradually attracted the attention of many scholars and decision-makers in health and social sciences. Nevertheless, there is no widely recognised and accepted definition in scientific research. Given the wide use of the term, we need to think about whether, or under what circumstances, a standardised, clear, meaningful and widely applicable definition of ‘evidence’ might be helpful.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Exploring the diverse definitions of ‘evidence’: a scoping review |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1136/bmjebm-2023-112355 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjebm-2023-112355 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | Clinical decision-making, evidence-based practice, social medicine |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Social Research Institute |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10181976 |
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