Time-sliced Meta-analysis — Temporal Evidence Synthesis

Time-sliced meta-analysis is a variant of standard meta-analysis in which the primary studies are partitioned into successive time periods (slices) and a separate pooled effect estimate is computed for each period. By comparing pooled effects across periods, researchers can detect whether an intervention's effectiveness, a relationship's magnitude, or a methodological consensus has shifted over time. This temporal lens transforms a static evidence summary into a longitudinal narrative of how scientific knowledge on a topic has evolved.