PREPRINTS IN HEALTH EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS

METHODOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

Abstract

This study aims to analyze how major methodological guides and reporting guidelines for health evidence synthesis address preprints, as well as to map and discuss proposals in the literature that guide their inclusion or exclusion. This is a documentary research based on the analysis of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions, the JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis, and the PRISMA 2020 and PRISMA-S guidelines, complemented by a systematized search in the Scopus, Web of Science, and Medline/PubMed databases. The results indicate that, although the guides recognize preprints as potential sources of evidence, there are gaps regarding normative guidance for their evaluation. Recent literature, in turn, presents evidence of consistency between preprints and published articles, while proposing methodological approaches that enable the transparent and controlled integration of preprints. It is concluded that the inclusion of preprints in evidence synthesis is feasible when accompanied by rigorous critical evaluation, methodological transparency, and continuous monitoring.