From Search to Synthesis: Systematic Reviews and Critical Appraisal

2 · Find and weigh evidence · IJMS Research-to-Publication Lab

From Search to Synthesis: Systematic Reviews and Critical Appraisal

16 January 2027 · Saturday · 14:00–15:30 UTC · Free online session

Intention. Make evidence synthesis a transparent process, from a searchable question to an honest interpretation of what the studies show.

What you will take away

  • Translate a question into search concepts and a reproducible strategy.
  • Plan screening, extraction, and a suitable appraisal method.
  • Distinguish narrative synthesis from meta-analysis and explain uncertainty.

Why this matters for medical students

Reviews are attractive starter projects, but weak searches and uncritical pooling can mislead. The goal is a defensible method, not simply a large number of citations.

Applied activity: Build a search concept map and critique a short study summary.

People behind the session

Meet the contributor. Lessa Alessandra Méndez Lara brings a student editor’s eye to framing questions, searching literature, and interpreting evidence.

Lessa Alessandra Méndez Lara

Medical student, Universidad Veracruzana, Mexico · IJMS Student Editor

Alessandra’s work includes a literature review on burnout among Mexican medical students and first-author research on parental stress and coping published in Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2025). Her student-editor experience gives her a view of how a well-framed question shapes both a literature search and the interpretation of what it finds.

Why her perspective helps: a review becomes more useful when students know precisely what they are asking before searching.

How to join

We plan to meet on Zoom and share the session through the IJMS YouTube channel. The access link, detailed agenda, and any registration instructions will be posted once confirmed. No fee or CME credit is advertised.

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