This paper presents a study of the methods applied by three well known brokerage agencies conducting systematic reviews within the field of education in Europe. The spreading of the evidence-based practice movement across Europe can be seen in the emergence of various organisations for research synthesis (e.g. in UK, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden) (Lenihan 2013). Inspired by Anglo-American success stories of clearinghouses, centres for "what works" and "best evidence" programmes European governments, researchers and private entrepreneurs have embraced the idea of systematic review and meta-analysis. The method of systematic review are often characterised as one strict, detailed and standardised procedure with emphasis on transparency and quality to ensure the result of solid evidence (Petticrew & Roberts 2005, Torgerson 2003). Additionally, evidence in this context is often associated with randomised control trials well known from the field of medicine. However, recent developments within the field implies various perspectives on what a systematic review is as well as its purposes (Gough et al. 2013) and by that it is opened up for more varied approaches to the concept of evidence. The study draws on a multi method approach that combines data from several sources, literature studies, document analysis, web analysis and expert interviews. A central finding is agency specific procedures for conducting systematic reviews. The findings imply that even though there seem to be one basic methodology there are obvious variations between agencies in how they proceed in their making of systematic reviews. The questions discussed in this paper are: what are the main differences between agency specific approaches to conducting systematic reviews and what are the consequences of this flexibility in procedures for the broader conceptions of what count as evidence in education?

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