Risk of Bias assessment for ecology & evolutionary biology
An essential component of a robust evidence synthesis is a detailed assessment of the risk of bias (RoB) in contributing studies, as is commonly done in some research disciplines. However, RoB assessment remains rare in ecology and evolutionary biology, and the RoB tools developed in related fields (e.g., environmental sciences) have not been widely adopted. To identify some of the reasons for this low uptake, and to provide guidance on how to change the situation, we conducted a survey of ecologists and evolutionary biologists with experience in systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
Out of 232 survey participants, around 10% had a correct understanding of RoB, and only 10 had conducted a RoB assessment. We also reviewed the author guidelines of 275 journals that publish ecological and evolutionary research and found that only a few mention risk of bias or related concepts in their guidelines for evidence synthesis.
In this workshop, I will briefly present our results, followed by a discussion on key actions to increase the use of RoB assessments in ecology and evolutionary biology. We will then work through a list of proposed questions that eco-evo evidence syntheses could use for a basic RoB assessment. Participants will apply these questions to a set of eco-evo studies and provide feedback on their applicability and any potential challenges encountered.
Next, we will discuss whether the proposed questions adequately cover the main aspects of RoB, and identify any additional questions that should be introduced. This will lead into a broader discussion on the constraints of assessing (and addressing) RoB in ecological and evolutionary meta-analyses, as well as potential strategies to overcome these challenges. Finally, we will gather suggestions for developing a more detailed RoB tool tailored to eco-evo research.
The workshop is open to participants from any research field and will benefit from the diverse perspectives different disciplines bring.