EBRNetwork – a call to action for evidence-based research

Background Use of earlier research is needed to provide the rationale for starting a study and a context in which to set the study results. Explicit use of earlier research, through the conduct of a systematic review, is also necessary for the design of an efficient and informative study. Decisions about design informed by systematic review include the selection of meaningful outcomes assessed in a way that enables synthesis across studies; this is especially needed in areas where core outcome sets do not yet exist. Yet research shows that there is inadequate and biased consideration of earlier research.