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REA Toolkit

Planning an REA

Contracting out: key risks

Not meeting the policy need

The key risk that needs to be controlled for when contracting out an REA is ensuring that it is able to meet the initial policy need and answer the REA question. You will be relying on external reviewers to search, screen, assess the quality of and then synthesise studies and communicate the findings.

This places a lot of emphasis on the start of the project clearly defining the question and the concepts that underpin it because these will be used to set the criteria for determining which studies are included, how they are coded and then synthesised. The contractor is also likely to be responsible for writing the final report and it is important to clearly specify the format, style and content of the report so that it meets the needs of the REA users.

These risks at each stage of the project may result in significant amounts of time spent reviewing the studies included, requesting clarification of coding and synthesis, and editing reports. This toolkit contains guidance on all the stages of the REA and having an understanding of these is important when commissioning out the REA.

Contract out stages of the REA

If you decide to only contract out the searching stage of the REA there are a number of risks to the project that need to be controlled. First, the process of searching and screening for literature within a team can help its members to become familiar with the literature and definitions of concepts. This familiarisation will need to take place at some point during the REA, and will therefore mean that misunderstandings are more likely when the team first ‘meets’ the literature – during data extraction.

Second, searching is often an iterative process, with search strategies being tested and refined before they are finalised. If searching is contracted out, there will need to be mechanisms in place for the REA team to review the searches and ensure that they are retrieving the correct literature, and are not inadvertently injecting bias into the REA.

Contracting out an REA- factors to consider