The People’s Review protocol: planning an innovative study powered by the public

Éle Quinn; Shoba Dawson; Jeremy Holt; Shahed Hossain; Patricia Logullo; Ann O’Brien; Maureen Smith; Derek Stewart; Shaun Treweek; Charlene Young; Chris Noone; David Moher; Sinéad M. Hynes

doi:10.1186/s40900-025-00682-7

The People’s Review protocol: planning an innovative study powered by the public

Éle Quinn^* (Corresponding Author)
, Shoba Dawson
, Jeremy Holt
, Shahed Hossain
, Patricia Logullo
, Ann O’Brien
, Maureen Smith
, Derek Stewart
, Shaun Treweek
, Charlene Young
, Chris Noone
, David Moher
, Sinéad M. Hynes

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

2 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Systematic reviews provide the best quality evidence about the effectiveness of health treatments. However, systematic reviews and the important role they play in healthcare are not well understood beyond the walls of academia and healthcare. Systematic reviews can help the public make more informed health choices, based on the best available evidence. The People’s Review aims to provide an opportunity to members of the public to plan and complete a full systematic review online in a supportive and engaging manner. It will be a learning-by-doing experience to support the public’s understanding of what reviews are, how they are done, why they matter, and how they can be used to support everyday health decisions.

Original language	English
Article number	28
Number of pages	14
Journal	Research Involvement and Engagement
Volume	11
Issue number	1
Early online date	25 Mar 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/s40900-025-00682-7
Publication status	Published - Dec 2025

Bibliographical note

The authors wish to thank Anna Noel-Storr, Gordon Dooley and David Anstee of Cochrane Crowd & Metaxis Ltd for their ongoing support and work regarding this project.

Data Availability Statement

No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

Funding

Éle Quinn’s PhD studentship is funded by the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Galway, Ireland through Evidence Synthesis Ireland. The People’s Review is funded by the Health Research Board (Ireland) (ESI-2021-001) and the HSC Research and Development Division of the Public Health Agency (Northern Ireland) through Evidence Synthesis Ireland and Cochrane Ireland.

Funders	Funder number
Health Research Board Ireland	ESI-2021-001

Keywords

citizen science
systematic review
patient and public involvement (PPI)
learning by doing
making sense of science
public partners
evidence-based healthcare
evidence synthesis
health research

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Cite this

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abstract = "Systematic reviews provide the best quality evidence about the effectiveness of health treatments. However, systematic reviews and the important role they play in healthcare are not well understood beyond the walls of academia and healthcare. Systematic reviews can help the public make more informed health choices, based on the best available evidence. The People{\textquoteright}s Review aims to provide an opportunity to members of the public to plan and complete a full systematic review online in a supportive and engaging manner. It will be a learning-by-doing experience to support the public{\textquoteright}s understanding of what reviews are, how they are done, why they matter, and how they can be used to support everyday health decisions.",

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AU - Hossain, Shahed

AU - Logullo, Patricia

AU - O’Brien, Ann

AU - Smith, Maureen

AU - Stewart, Derek

AU - Treweek, Shaun

AU - Young, Charlene

AU - Noone, Chris

AU - Moher, David

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The People’s Review protocol: planning an innovative study powered by the public

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Data Availability Statement

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

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Cite this