This comprehensive guide on living evidence provides a detailed discussion of what living evidence is, why it is useful, and its strengths and limitations. The guide also presents a high-level overview of how to produce living evidence.
Living evidence is the process of gathering and synthesizing large quantities of evidence and regularly generating reports based on this evidence as new findings emerge. Living evidence includes living systematic reviews, living evidence gap maps, living guidelines, and the user interfaces and visualization tools that accompany these research outputs.
This guide focuses on how living evidence can be used during investment prioritization, partner selection, intervention design, and adaptive management in philanthropic giving. However, it would be equally applicable to government officials and program managers engaging in these same activities.
The key considerations and specific examples provided are especially useful. Because living evidence projects are resource intensive, groups considering them should conduct a capacity assessment, ensure adequate coordination, develop an approach for resource maintenance, and create effective visualization tools. Examples include living systematic reviews from the Global Alliance for LE on aNxiety, depressOn and pSychosis (GAENOS) , evidence gap maps from the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), and guidelines from the Australian Living Evidence Consortium.