Submit a request

To submit a request to COVID-END in Canada, please download our evidence synthesis request form and submit it to covid-end@mcmaster.ca.

We have sufficient funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to prepare 25-77 rapid evidence profiles (depending on whether they are completed in 4 hours or 1-3 days) and 13-22 rapid syntheses (depending on the number of days available and the complexity of the question) before the conclusion of the grant on 30 November 2021. The initial version of a living evidence profile or living evidence synthesis can be prepared at comparable cost to a one-off profile or synthesis but the updating costs are lower. Examples of our past work and descriptions of the types of evidence products we can prepare are provided on our evidence products webpage.

We use the following four criteria to ensure it prioritizes requests where it can add the most value:

  1. question of interest to and the synthesis likely to be explicitly considered by high-level decision-makers in multiple Canadian jurisdictions, which can be operationalized through processes such as (but not limited to):
    1. question was submitted by an advisory committee comprised of high-level decision-makers from across the country (e.g., COVID-19 Special Advisory Committee, which is comprised of federal, provincial and territorial chief medical officers of health)
    2. question was submitted by an assistant deputy minister from one province after conferring with peers in two neighbouring provinces
    3. question has been identified with the input of diverse Canadian citizens and/or has the potential to equitably improve health (and wellbeing) outcomes and service experiences for Canadian citizens
  2. question hasn’t already been addressed by a recently updated, high-quality evidence synthesis (e.g., living evidence syntheses about vaccines and drugs) or won’t be addressed soon by work underway (e.g., rapid synthesis underway with a Canadian team, commitment from a Canadian entity, registered synthesis protocol or CIHR funding to conduct a synthesis), which the secretariat confirms by searching both the COVID-END domestic inventory and the COVID-END global inventory and contacting 40+ Canada evidence-synthesis teams
  3. question can be completed in the timeline requested given the complexity of the question and given work already underway to address previously asked questions
  4. question can be prioritized at this time given the status of spending against the bi-monthly targets set to ensure that spending is roughly balanced over the one-year funding period (December 2020 to November 2021).

We regret that we cannot prioritize questions coming from students and researchers or from providers who are not acting on behalf of an established group with an explicit role in advising or making high-level decisions in Canadian jurisdictions.