Review of Literature

Anurag B Patidar Lecturer, DMCH College of Nursing

Literature?
The review of the literature is defined as a broad, comprehensive, indepth, systematic, and critical review of scholarly publications,

unpublished scholarly print materials, audiovisual materials, and

personal communications

Literature Review?
Determines an appropriate research design/method (instruments, data collection and analysis methods) for answering the research question Determines the need for replication of a well designed study or refinement of a study

Literature Review?
Determines what is known about a subject, concept or problem Determines gaps, consistencies & inconsistencies about a subject, concept or problem

Discovers unanswered questions about a subject, concept or

problem Describes strengths & weaknesses of designs, methods of inquiry and instruments used in earlier works

Literature Review?
Generates useful research questions or projects/activities for the discipline Promotes development of protocols & policies related to nursing practice Uncovers a new practice intervention, or gains support for changing a practice intervention

How to review?
The whole process of reviewing includes: a. Searching for literature b. Sorting and prioritising the retrieved literature c. Analytical reading of papers d. Evaluative reading of papers e. Comparison across studies f. Organising the content

g. Writing the review

SMM4999 - LITERATURE REVIEW

Determine concept/issue/topic/problem Conduct computer (and/or hand) search Weed out irrelevant sources before printing Organize sources from printout for retrieval

Literature

Retrieve relevant sources

Conduct preliminary reading and weed out irrelevant sources
Critically read each source (summarize & critique each source)

Synthesize critical summaries

of Literature
Primary source: is written by a person(s) who developed the theory or conducted the research Secondary source: is written by a person(s) other than the individual who developed the theory or

conducted the research

Sources

All of the theorys concepts or aspects of the study and/or

definitions may not be fully presented

If all concepts or aspects are included, the definitions may be collapsed or paraphrased to such a degree that it no longer represents the theorists actual work The critique (whether positive or negative) is based on the

presentation of incomplete or interpreted data and therefore less

useful to the consumer

ROL
Most relevant nursing database is: CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature): is accessible at http://www.cinahl.com. MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieved System Online): It is another electronic source of literature review commonly used by nurses..

ROL
PubMed: available at http://www.pubmed.com MedlinePlus: It is the National Library of Medicines web sire for consumer health information. It is available at http://www.medlineplus.gov. Registry of Nursing Research: Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing makes this database available through its Virginia Henderson International Nursing Library. Access to this data base been redesigned and made easier for users to obtain evidence and scientific findings from more than 22,00 research article abstracts and conference abstracts. Free access to this database may be found at http://www.nursinglibrary.org

 Cochrance Database of System Reviews: Health care related literature can searched from this source at http:/www.cochrane.org. ERIC: A free search may be carried out at http://www.eric.ed.gov PsycINFO: It may be searched at http://www.psychinfo.com Dissertation Abstracts Online: Abstracts or masters and doctoral thesis are available on this electronic database. Online Journals: Following are the web site addresses for journals and magazines are available online. http://www.nsna.org http://www.medbioworld.com http://www.nursingworld.org/ojin http://www.eaa-knowledge.com/ojni/# http://www.nursingweek.com

Contd

 Other Online Database: Many other online database be searched free by nurses from following Web sites: http://www.aidsinfo.nih.gov (HIV/AIDS Information) http://www.hazmap.nlm.nih.gov (Hazardous Agents Information) http://www.child.nih.gov (Combined Health Information Database) http://www.toxinet.nlm.nih.gov (Toxicology Database Network) Cancer Lit (Cancer Literature) EMBASE (The Except a Medic database) ETOH (Alcohol & Alcohol problems science database) Health STAR research) (Health Services Technology administration and

Contd

Contd
Printed sources
Printed research summary may be located from

published abstracts such as Nursing Research Abstract,

Psychological Abstracts, dissertation Abstract

International, Masters Abstract International

Journals: There are several national and international

journal scan be used review of research related

literature.

International Journals
Nursing Research Research in Nursing and Health Nursing Sciences Quarterly Clinical Nursing Research Worldviews on Evidence Based Nursing Journal of Qualitative Research American Journal of Nursing International Journal of Nursing Studies

National Journals The Nursing Journal of India International Journal of Nursing Education Journal of cardiovascular nursing Journal of advance nursing Journal of symptoms and signs

PREPARING WRITTEN LITERATURE

What should I do before writing the literature review?

The introduction should provide the reader with the scale and structure of your review. It serves as a kind of map. Writing the introduction: Define or identify the general topic, issue or area of concern thus , providing appropriate context for reviewing the literature
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What should I do before writing the literature review?

The body of the review depends on how you have organized your key points. Literature reviews at postgraduate level should be evaluative and not

merely descriptive. For example possible reasons for

similarities or differences between studies are

considered rather than a mere identification of them.

What should I do before writing the literature review?

Organizing the body Once you have the basic categories in place, then you must consider how you will present the sources themselves within the body of your paper. Create an organizational method to focus this section even further. To help you come up with an overall organizational framework for your review, consider the six typical ways of organizing the sources into a review:
Chronological By publication By trend Thematic Methodological Questions for Further Research

SMM4999 - LITERATURE REVIEW

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What should I do before writing the literature review?

The conclusion of the review needs to sum up the main findings of your research into the literature. The findings can be related to the aims of the study you are proposing to do. The reader is thus provided with a coherent background to the current study. Writing the conclusion:
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What should I do before writing the literature review?

Summarize major contributions of significant studies and articles to the body of knowledge under review, maintaining the focus established in the introduction. Evaluate the current, "State of the art", for the body of knowledge reviewed, pointing out major methodological flaws or gaps in research, inconsistencies in theory and finding and area or issues pertinent to future study.
DR. LILI ANN 21

Poor writing in a literature review

Poor writing in a literature review is often the result of failing to integrate arguments into the review. Many

people make the mistake of simply summarising their

readings. Look at the following example of poor and good writing.

of the Literature
1. Does the literature review uncover gaps or inconsistencies in knowledge? 2. How does the review reflect critical thinking? 3. Are all the relevant concepts and variables included in the review? 4. Dose the summary of each reviewed study reflect the essential components of the study design?

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Critiquing Criteria for a Review of the Literature

5. Dose the critique of each reviewed study include strengths, weaknesses, or limitations of the design; conflicts; and gaps or inconsistencies in information in relation to the area of interest? 6. Were both conceptual and data based literature included?

7. Were primary sources mainly included?

8. Is there a written summary synthesis of the reviewed scholarly literature?

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Critiquing Criteria for a Review of the Literature

9. Does the synthesis summary follow a logical sequence that leads the reader to why there is the need for the particular research or non research project?

10. Did the organization of the reviewed studies (i.e. chronologically, or according to concepts/variables, or type/design of study) follow logically, enhancing the ability of the reader to evaluate the need for the particular research or non research project?
11. Does the literature review follow the purpose(s) of the study or non research project?
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References
Afolabi, M. 'The review of related literature in research' International journal of information and library research, 1992;4(1): 59-66.

Bourner, T. 'The research process: four steps to success', in Greenfield, T. (ed), Research methods: guidance for postgraduates, Arnold, London, 1996.
Bruce, C. S. 'Information skills coursework for postgraduate students: investigation and response at the Queensland University of Technology' Australian Academic & Research Libraries, 1990;21(4):224-232. Bruce, C. 'When enough is enough: or how should research students delimit the scope of their literature review?, in Challenging the Conventional Wisdom in Higher Education: Selected Contributions Presented at the Ninteeth Annual National Conference and Twenty-First Birthday Celebration of the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia Inc., HERDSA, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 1993:435-439. Bruce, C. S. 'Research student's early experiences of the dissertation literature review' Studies in Higher Education, 1994;19(2):217-229. Bruce, C. 'Supervising literature reviews', in Zuber-Skerritt, O. and Ryan, Y. (eds), Quality in postgraduate education, Kogan Page, London, 1994.

Bruce, C. S. 'From Neophyte to expert: counting on reflection to facilitate complex conceptions of the literature review', in Zuber-Skerritt, O. (ed), Frameworks for postgraduate education, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, 1997.