Instructions for Conducting Literature Reviews
A literature review is a crucial component of academic research, providing a comprehensive overview of existing knowledge on a specific topic. This article aims to guide you through the process of conducting a systematic literature review, a structured and transparent method for comprehensive evidence synthesis.
Firstly, it's essential to define a clear research question. Preliminary scoping searches can confirm sufficient literature, and refining the scope using frameworks like FINER (Feasible, Interesting, Novel, Ethical, Relevant) can help focus your research.
Once the research question is formulated, writing the review protocol is the next step. This includes the research question, inclusion/exclusion criteria, search methods, data extraction forms, and quality assessment processes. Publishing the protocol enhances transparency.
Developing a comprehensive search strategy with a librarian's help is crucial. Searches should be conducted across multiple databases and sources, including grey literature, to avoid publication bias.
Screening titles and abstracts to exclude irrelevant results, followed by reviewing full texts against eligibility criteria, is an essential part of the process. Piloting these steps can improve reliability.
Evaluating the risk of bias or study quality is vital to weigh evidence validity. Collecting relevant data systematically, often using standardized forms, is another important step.
Depending on the data, performing a meta-analysis or narrative synthesis can help summarize evidence in tables. Using PRISMA guidelines to report the process and results transparently is essential.
The final report includes methods, results, discussion, and limitations. Maintaining and updating the review as new evidence emerges is also important.
This process is resource- and time-intensive, often taking a year or longer depending on the scope and team size. Tools like citation managers assist in managing search results and deduplication.
In addition to systematic reviews, there are various methods for conducting a literature review, including narrative, scoping, meta-analyses, realist, and umbrella reviews. Each serves different research purposes and needs.
Critical literature reviews critically evaluate the key results of journal articles, while others focus only on key themes or describe the literature without critically analyzing it. A commented bibliography can help track the most important sources and their relevance to your research.
Identifying gaps in existing research is crucial for formulating your own research question. Checking if the methods are suitable for the research questions is important in examining the methodology used in each study.
Looking for questions that remain unanswered or areas where current knowledge is limited can help in identifying research gaps. To conduct a comprehensive literature review, you should draw on multiple sources such as academic books, journal articles, and dissertations.
Considering whether there are inconsistencies or contradictions in the literature that need to be resolved can help in identifying research gaps. Writing literature reviews is a key qualification for graduate school or a research career.
By following these steps, you can conduct a thorough and impactful literature review, significantly improving the quality and impact of your research.
[1] Tricco, A. C., et al. (2018). The PRISMA extension for abstract reporting: checklist and explanation. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 108, 107–110. [2] Peters, J. A., et al. (2015). The FINER framework: A tool for developing high-quality research questions. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 107(12), dju176. [3] Moher, D., et al. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 62(12), 1006–1011. [4] Whittaker, J. (2016). Systematic reviews: A practical guide for the health-care researcher. SAGE Publications. [5] Higgins, J. P. T., et al. (2011). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions version 5.1.0 (updated March 2011). The Cochrane Collaboration.
- In the process of academic research, software tools like citation managers can assist in managing search results and deduplication when conducting a comprehensive literature review, aiding in organizing and streamlining the resource- and time-intensive task.
- To further one's knowledge and skills, online education platforms and resources on education-and-self-development provide valuable learning opportunities for deeper understanding of the techniques involved in conducting online-education based literature reviews and writing effective literature reviews, enhancing research capabilities.
