Lessons from COVID-19 to future evidence synthesis efforts: first living search strategy and out of date scientific publishing and indexing industry (submitted)

• The guidance on excluding non-English literature in evidence synthesis may not be suitable for topics where studies are likely to be from a non-English geography. • The routine practice of developing search strategies may not fit the rapidly changing concepts such as COVID-19 and we need living search strategies. • Out-of-date publishing and indexing policies need to be updated.