What Is the Purpose of a Literature Review in Nursing Research
J Grad Med Educ. 2016 Jul; 8(3): 297–303.
The Literature Review: A Foundation for High-Quality Medical Didactics Research
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Despite a surge in published scholarship in medical education 1 and rapid growth in journals that publish educational research, manuscript acceptance rates continue to fall. 2 Failure to conduct a thorough, authentic, and up-to-date literature review identifying an of import problem and placing the report in context is consistently identified every bit one of the top reasons for rejection. 3,4 The purpose of this editorial is to provide a road map and practical recommendations for planning a literature review. Past understanding the goals of a literature review and following a few basic processes, authors can heighten both the quality of their educational enquiry and the likelihood of publication in the Journal of Graduate Medical Pedagogy (JGME) and in other journals.
The Literature Review Defined
In medical education, no organization has articulated a formal definition of a literature review for a research paper; thus, a literature review tin take a number of forms. Depending on the type of article, target journal, and specific topic, these forms will vary in methodology, rigor, and depth. Several organizations take published guidelines for conducting an intensive literature search intended for formal systematic reviews, both broadly (eg, PRISMA) 5 and inside medical education, vi and there are excellent commentaries to guide authors of systematic reviews. seven,8
Such work is outside the scope of this commodity, which focuses on literature reviews to inform reports of original medical educational activity research. We define such a literature review every bit a synthetic review and summary of what is known and unknown regarding the topic of a scholarly body of work, including the current work's place within the existing knowledge. While this type of literature review may not require the intensive search processes mandated by systematic reviews, information technology merits a thoughtful and rigorous arroyo.
Purpose and Importance of the Literature Review
An agreement of the current literature is critical for all phases of a research written report. Lingard 9 recently invoked the "journal-as-conversation" metaphor as a mode of understanding how one's research fits into the larger medical education chat. As she described it: "Imagine yourself joining a conversation at a social event. After you hang almost eavesdropping to get the migrate of what's being said (the conversational equivalent of the literature review), you join the conversation with a contribution that signals your shared interest in the topic, your knowledge of what'due south already been said, and your intention." 9
The literature review helps any researcher "join the conversation" by providing context, informing methodology, identifying innovation, minimizing duplicative research, and ensuring that professional standards are met. Agreement the current literature besides promotes scholarship, every bit proposed by Boyer, 10 by contributing to 5 of the 6 standards past which scholarly work should be evaluated. eleven Specifically, the review helps the researcher (1) articulate articulate goals, (ii) evidence evidence of acceptable preparation, (3) select appropriate methods, (4) communicate relevant results, and (5) engage in reflective critique.
Failure to conduct a high-quality literature review is associated with several problems identified in the medical educational activity literature, including studies that are repetitive, not grounded in theory, methodologically weak, and fail to expand knowledge beyond a unmarried setting. 12 Indeed, medical education scholars complain that many studies repeat work already published and contribute trivial new knowledge—a probable crusade of which is failure to behave a proper literature review. 3,iv
Besides, studies that lack theoretical grounding or a conceptual framework make study design and interpretation hard. 13 When theory is used in medical education studies, information technology is oft invoked at a superficial level. As Norman xiv noted, when theory is used appropriately, it helps articulate variables that might exist linked together and why, and it allows the researcher to make hypotheses and define a report'southward context and scope. Ultimately, a proper literature review is a starting time critical step toward identifying relevant conceptual frameworks.
Another problem is that many medical educational activity studies are methodologically weak. 12 Good research requires trained investigators who can articulate relevant enquiry questions, operationally ascertain variables of interest, and choose the best method for specific inquiry questions. Conducting a proper literature review helps both novice and experienced researchers select rigorous research methodologies.
Finally, many studies in medical pedagogy are "one-offs," that is, single studies undertaken considering the opportunity presented itself locally. Such studies oft are not oriented toward progressive knowledge building and generalization to other settings. A house grasp of the literature can encourage a programmatic approach to research.
Approaching the Literature Review
Considering these issues, journals have a responsibility to demand from authors a thoughtful synthesis of their report's position within the field, and it is the authors' responsibility to provide such a synthesis, based on a literature review. The aforementioned purposes of the literature review mandate that the review occurs throughout all phases of a study, from conception and design, to implementation and analysis, to manuscript preparation and submission.
Planning the literature review requires agreement of journal requirements, which vary greatly by periodical ( table 1). Authors are advised to have note of common issues with reporting results of the literature review. Tabular array 2 lists the almost common issues that we have encountered as authors, reviewers, and editors.
Table 1
Sample of Journals' Author Instructions for Literature Reviews Conducted as Function of Original Research Articlea
Table two
Mutual Problem Areas for Reporting Literature Reviews in the Context of Scholarly Manufactures
Locating and Organizing the Literature
Iii resources may facilitate identifying relevant literature: human being resource, search tools, and related literature. As the process requires time, it is important to brainstorm searching for literature early in the process (ie, the study blueprint stage). Identifying and understanding relevant studies will increase the likelihood of designing a relevant, adaptable, generalizable, and novel study that is based on educational or learning theory and can maximize impact.
Homo Resource
A medical librarian can help interpret inquiry interests into an effective search strategy, familiarize researchers with bachelor information resource, provide information on organizing information, and introduce strategies for keeping current with emerging enquiry. Often, librarians are also enlightened of research across their institutions and may exist able to connect researchers with similar interests. Reaching out to colleagues for suggestions may aid researchers speedily locate resource that would not otherwise be on their radar.
During this process, researchers will probable identify other researchers writing on aspects of their topic. Researchers should consider searching for the publications of these relevant researchers (meet tabular array 3 for search strategies). Additionally, institutional websites may include curriculum vitae of such relevant kinesthesia with access to their entire publication record, including difficult to locate publications, such equally book chapters, dissertations, and technical reports.
Tabular array 3
Strategies for Finding Related Researcher Publications in Databases and Search Engines
Search Tools and Related Literature
Researchers will locate the bulk of needed information using databases and search engines. Splendid resources are available to guide researchers in the mechanics of literature searches. fifteen,16
Because medical education research draws on a diversity of disciplines, researchers should include search tools with coverage beyond medicine (eg, psychology, nursing, education, and anthropology) and that cover several publication types, such as reports, standards, conference abstracts, and book chapters (run across the box for several data resources). Many search tools include options for viewing citations of selected articles. Examining cited references provides additional manufactures for review and a sense of the influence of the selected article on its field.
In one case relevant articles are located, information technology is useful to mine those articles for additional citations. One strategy is to examine references of key articles, specially review articles, for relevant citations.
Getting Organized
Every bit the aforementioned resources will likely provide a tremendous amount of information, system is crucial. Researchers should determine which details are about important to their report (eg, participants, setting, methods, and outcomes) and generate a strategy for keeping those details organized and attainable. Increasingly, researchers utilize digital tools, such as Evernote, to capture such information, which enables accessibility across digital workspaces and search capabilities. Employ of citation managers tin also be helpful as they store citations and, in some cases, can generate bibliographies ( tabular array iv).
Table 4
Commendation Managers
Knowing When to Say When
Researchers oftentimes ask how to know when they have located enough citations. Unfortunately, there is no magic or ideal number of citations to collect. One strategy for checking coverage of the literature is to inspect references of relevant articles. As researchers review references they will start noticing a repetition of the same manufactures with few new manufactures appearing. This can betoken that the researcher has covered the literature base of operations on a particular topic.
Putting It All Together
In preparing to write a research paper, information technology is important to consider which citations to include and how they will inform the introduction and give-and-take sections. The "Instructions to Authors" for the targeted journal volition often provide guidance on structuring the literature review (or introduction) and the number of total citations permitted for each article category. Reviewing articles of similar blazon published in the targeted journal can besides provide guidance regarding structure and average lengths of the introduction and discussion sections.
When selecting references for the introduction consider those that illustrate core background theoretical and methodological concepts, as well as recent relevant studies. The introduction should be brief and present references not equally a laundry list or narrative of available literature, just rather equally a synthesized summary to provide context for the current report and to identify the gap in the literature that the study intends to fill up. For the discussion, citations should be thoughtfully selected to compare and contrast the present report'south findings with the current literature and to bespeak how the nowadays study moves the field forward.
To facilitate writing a literature review, journals are increasingly providing helpful features to guide authors. For example, the resources available through JGME include several articles on writing. 17 The journal Perspectives on Medical Education recently launched "The Author's Arts and crafts," which is intended to help medical educators improve their writing. Additionally, many institutions accept writing centers that provide web-based materials on writing a literature review, and some even have writing coaches.
Conclusion
The literature review is a vital part of medical pedagogy inquiry and should occur throughout the research process to help researchers blueprint a strong study and effectively communicate study results and importance. To reach these goals, researchers are advised to program and execute the literature review carefully. The guidance in this editorial provides considerations and recommendations that may amend the quality of literature reviews.
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Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4936839/
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