Stellrecht Returns from Sabbatical with Fresh Insights into Systematic Reviews

by DENISE WOLFE

After six months away, Liz Stellrecht, head of Health Sciences Library Services, has returned to the University at Buffalo Libraries with renewed energy and a deeper understanding of the role librarians play in producing high-quality systematic and scoping reviews. Her sabbatical, which ran from May through November 2025, offered a rare opportunity to focus exclusively on research.

“It was great,” she said. “I really enjoyed being able to concentrate on my research project. It went by so fast.”

Stellrecht spent her sabbatical conducting an institutional analysis of systematic and scoping reviews authored by UB health sciences faculty. The goal was to determine how often librarians are involved in these projects and whether their participation strengthens the quality and reproducibility of the reviews.

The project, a collaboration with colleagues on the health sciences team, has revealed what Stellrecht describes as some “creative” approaches researchers take when conducting reviews. More significantly, preliminary findings suggest researchers are missing important information in their conclusions because of inadequate searches. 

“They need us!” Stellrecht said.

The sabbatical offered Stellrecht a rare opportunity to participate in every stage of the review process. Librarians typically focus on developing the review protocol and creating, running and documenting searches, while content experts handle other portions. Stellrecht had served as a screener on only one previous review.

“It’s been fascinating being involved in every step of the process,” she said. “I’m having so much fun being a part of all stages.”

Though she didn’t travel for research, Stellrecht completed much of her work from local coffee shops in Kenmore and took personal trips to Siesta Key, Florida, and Findley Lake, New York. The biggest challenge, she admitted, was shifting away from the fast pace of meetings, committees and daily responsibilities to a single project. “I definitely struggled to unplug,” she said. 

Stellrecht and her colleagues are conducting a full-text review to finalize results for analysis. They plan to present their findings at the 2026 Medical Library Association annual meeting in Milwaukee and publish their work this summer.

As for returning to work? “Overwhelmed!” Stellrecht said, though she noted that the people were what she missed most during her time away.