Inclusion of Librarians and Information Professionals in Canadian Knowledge Synthesis Grant Funding

Abstract

Introduction: Librarians are continually advocating for the expertise they can bring to knowledge synthesis research projects. Professional associations like the Canadian Health Libraries Association (CHLA) aim to promote librarians and information professionals as partners in health research. This push for representation must happen at a policy level in order to enact change. To that purpose, we explored the degree to which the inclusion of librarians and information professionals is represented at the funding level by healthcare research organizations in Canada. Methods: We used a list of health research funding agencies generated from Scopus searches and an independent search of Canadian health research institutions, governmental health authorities, professional associations, and research-oriented universities to identify research grants designed for knowledge synthesis research. We examined these grants to determine whether they include librarians or information professionals in their eligibility criteria. Results: Of the 14 knowledge synthesis grants we identified, only one required a medical librarian as a member of the research team in the grant eligibility criteria. Discussion: Most knowledge synthesis grants in Canada do not require, recommend, or mention librarians or information professionals as a member of the research or authorship team. Despite evidence that librarians provide vital expertise on searching and are proven to substantially improve the quality of knowledge synthesis research projects, Canadian health research organizations do not acknowledge the skills that librarians and information professionals can bring to research projects at the funding level.