Literature Review Analysis

Study Notes

Reviewing the Literature (LR)

A literature review analyzes and synthesizes information from research studies, scholarly articles, books, dissertations, conference proceedings, and other relevant materials.
The purposes of a literature review include determining existing knowledge on a specific topic, defining the research problem, classifying information sources (classic & recent), planning the study methodology, and identifying successes and mistakes of previous researchers.
Primary sources are accounts of a research study, typically found in journal articles, written by the original investigators.
Secondary sources summarize or describe existing research studies written by someone besides the original investigator.
Grey literature includes reports, conference proceedings, standards, technical documentation, government documents, technical documents, fact sheets, and policy briefs.
Search strategies involve deciding on the research question, outlining the topic, and specifying search terms/phrases (e.g., induce, labor, morning, evening; pregnancy, birth, labor, childbirth, delivery).
Considerations for search strategies include currency (e.g., limiting to the past 5-10 years), using database options and limiters (e.g., "and/or/not", phrase searching, date range, language, peer reviewed articles), and consulting with a librarian.
Examples of useful databases for nursing research include CINAHL, MEDLINE, Cochrane, Ovid Nursing, Joanna Briggs EBP, PsychINFO, ProQuest, Dissertations and Theses databases, Science Direct, and Scopus.

Writing the Literature Review

A literature review organizes information from comprehensive searches to present a central argument backed by evidence and analysis of supporting & opposing arguments.
The literature review extracts pertinent information, analyzes and interprets each source, and applies the findings/conclusions to the research topic.
Researchers can critically review citations from their reference list to potentially find additional resources, sometimes called parallel searching.
Literature reviews typically include an introduction, main body, section for further research suggestions, and a concluding summary.

Citations

Citations are crucial in any research project, especially when referencing other authors' work to avoid plagiarism.
Citations should encompass a quote, paraphrase, image, or other piece of information from another's work.
Several citation styles exist, including APA (American Psychological Association), MLA (Modern Language Association), and Chicago.
APA style, used frequently in scientific disciplines like nursing, standardizes research and citation formats.
APA style has two main types of citations: in-text citations and reference citations.
In-text citations include the author's name, year of publication, and the page number.
Reference citations, typically found at the end of a research project, include author's names, source's title, publication date, page range, journal name for publications, and URLs (when available) & are listed alphabetically.

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing means rewriting information from a source in your own words and writing style and is an essential skill to avoid plagiarism.
A short quotation uses the author's name, year of publication, and page number. Long quotes are set apart from the rest of the text/paragraph.
Always cite the source when employing paraphrasing strategies.

Major Paper Sections: Title Page

Ensure the title page contains the paper's title, author's name, and affiliation.
Include page headers (e.g., running head: title of your paper) and page numbers.
Subsequent pages after the title page also have a running head.

Headers

The title page's summary title should be concise.
It reflects the central theme and variables addressed.
All text material should be double-spaced.
The title is centered on the page and is typed in 12-point Times New Roman font and is not bold, underlined or italicized.
The introduction introduces the main problem the paper addresses.