5.1.3 Sources of textual evidence

JBI conceptualizes textual evidence as documented communication sources (other than research) that inform decision making in healthcare. The question of what constitutes a ‘text’ can differ due to highly variable theoretical approaches to textual linguistics and discourse analysis where even the concepts of text and discourse are used in a multitude of ways and are grounded in differing research traditions. Similarly, social scientists’ understandings and utilization of methods and the act of analysing text are variable.

Text can be defined as a ‘communicative event’ that may correspond with a particular genre - in this case we are talking about sources of knowledge for the purpose of systematic reviews relating to health care research, inquiry, discussion, debate or opinion. Different genres have particular linguistic features, fulfil particular functions and are bound to specific rules of production and response. Contextual expectations, therefore, are also fundamental to understanding the role of text in different settings.

Non-research text within health care is, generally speaking, found in published narratives or ‘stories’ from health care consumers or health care providers; expert opinion-based pieces; government or institutional policies and/or reports; unpublished (or grey/gray) literature; discussion papers; white/position papers from professional organizations, media sources, or consensus guidelines. Clinicians often refer to these texts as sources of knowledge to inform practice, particularly where no research-based information exists.

The overarching term ‘text’ therefore, for our purpose, refers specifically to documented communication other than research that inform decision making in healthcare embodied in the following sources: narrative, expert opinion, and policy.