Doing Your Literature Review: Traditional and Systematic Techniques

Abstract

Introduction Who is this book for? How is this book different? The rationale and history behind the contributions from a researcher and from an information specialist Features of the book Layout of the book PART ONE: GETTING INFORMATION Preliminaries What is a literature review? Terminology used in this book Different styles of review Two styles or approaches A critical approach Knowledge and literature Why and when will you need to review the literature? The research question and the literature review What is appropriate literature? Choosing which style of review: a traditional narrative review or a systematic review Project management Searching for Information Introduction Develop online searches by identifying key words and creating a search record The range of information sources available for complex searches. What do you need from a resource to make it appropriate for locating journal articles for your review? Reading Skills Introduction Be analytical in your reading Where to start Reading techniques - scan, skim and understand Reading different types of material Grey literature: non academic sources and policy reports Recording and note making From Making Notes to Writing Introduction Note-making From notes to writing Writing - critical writing and types of argument Making a value judgment and bias PART TWO: USING INFORMATION The Traditional Review Overview of the debate Types of review: critical, conceptual state of the art, expert and scoping Draw up an analytical framework - how to sort the material Moving to analysis and synthesis The presentation of your review Summarizing the gap - dare to have an opinion. Writing up Your Review Overview A short summary A self-standing review Abstract, executive summary and annotated bibliography Writing the review Key words or phrases to help you move from stage 1 to stage 2 The 'so what' question, originality and making a value judgment The Systematic Review Overview Definitions Development of the review protocol Formulating the review question Documenting your progress Locating studies and sources of information Selecting studies: inclusion and exclusion criteria Appraisal - assessing the quality of research Data extraction Synthesis, drawing conclusions, what the review shows Evolving formats of systematic review Meta- Analysis Overview What is meta-analysis? Can I use meta-analysis to summarise the results of my systematic review? Undertaking your meta-analysis Displaying the results of a meta-analysis Is your meta-analysis free from bias? Performing a sensitivity analysis Referencing and Plagiarism Introduction Why is referencing important? What do you need to reference? How many references should I provide? When and how to reference Referencing systems Where to find citation information you need Plagiarism Copyright Conclusion Summary Appendices Appendix 1: Further reading Appendix 2: Critical review checklist Appendix 3: Systematic review online resources Appendix 4: Resources for meta-analysis Glossary