*Nursing*

Literature reviews are summaries of the literature on a particular topic. Reviews are generally considered "research", especially systematic and integrative reviews, but are not experimental in nature. There are several kinds of reviews: plain literature reviews, systematic reviews, and integrative reviews are the most common. Chapter 5 of Introduction to Nursing Research: Incorporating Evidence-based Practice (Cannon & Boswell, 2011, 2nd ed. Sudbury, Mass: Jones & Bartlett Learning) covers the purpose and process of a literature review in the context of writing a research article, thesis, or dissertation. How to undertake a literature search: a step-by-step guide (Watson, 2020, BJN, 29(7): 431-435) is a good overall guide.

Types of literature reviews:

• Literature Reviews
  • summaries of relevant literature
  • generally descriptive
  • not necessarily any analysis of the literature
  • methodology of the literature search is not always given
  • good for gaining background knowledge of a subject without having to do all the searches and reading yourself.
  • good source for starting reading lists and literature searches.
  • not generally considered a good source for clinical decision making
  • Note: In the past, reviews were not differentiated by type, so older reviews may use systematic or integrative methodology but not be specified as such.
  • Reading: Ten simple rules for writing a literature review (Pautasso, M. (2013). PLoS Comput Biol, 9(7), e1003149.)
  • Reading: Conducting Your Literature Review (Hempel, S. (2020). Washington, DC : American Psychological Association.)
• Systematic Reviews
  • specifically includes experimental research studies
  • search and selection methodology is very precise and should be explicitly described well enough for another researcher to duplicate the searches and the study selection. See Table 1 of this article (Hoojimans et al. (2012). PLoS One, 7(11): e48811) for a good example of describing the search methods.
  • the purpose of a systematic review is to reach some conclusion regarding the topic: for example, the selection of high quality studies to be used in a meta-analysis*, the gaps in current research, or the best clinical evidence for determining evidence based practice.
  • the first stage of meta-analysis studies--all meta-analyses should include a systematic review, but all systematic reviews do not lead to a meta-analysis
  • usually done in a group to reduce researcher bias in the selection and evaluation of individual studies
  • Reading: A practical guide to conducting a systematic review (Forward & Hobby, 2002, Nursing Times, 98(2), 36) provides some basic advice for conducting a systematic review.
    Reading:  PRISMA-S: an extension to the PRISMA Statement for Reporting Literature Searches in Systematic Reviews. (Rethlefsen, M.L., et al. (2021). Syst Rev 10, 39. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-020-01542-z)
• Integrative Reviews 
  • commonly include non-experimental research, such as case studies, observational studies, and meta-analyses, but may also include practice applications, theory, and guidelines
  • should have clear and precise search and selection criteria
  • search and selection methodology should be described well enough for another researcher to duplicate the process
  • selected literature should be analyzed, not just summarized--articles and groups of articles compared, themes identified, gaps noted, etc.
  • Reading: The integrative review: updated methodology (Whittemore & Knaf, 2005, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 52(5), 546–553) provides an overview of the purpose and practice of integrative reviews.
    Reading: A Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting an Integrative Review | SpringerLink (SCSU ebook, login required.)
• Scoping or Mapping Reviews
  • ​​​​​​​aims at determining the scope or extent of the research on a topic
  • often more descriptive than analytical
  • Reading: PRISMA guideline for scoping reviews
  • Reading: An Evidence Based Approach to Scoping Reviews
  • JBI's scoping review website
  • University of South Australia's guide on scoping reviews

*A meta-analysis study is one where carefully selected data from previous studies is combined to bring more rigor to a statistical or other analysis. No additional experimental work is done (usually). A systematic review is necessary to be sure that the data from the selected studies is comparable and combinable.

Additional reading:

"Grey Literature" is the non journal article literature that isn't usually included in library database searches. It can include things like agency reports, grant proposals and reports, whitepapers, theses/dissertations, etc. It is SOMETIMES appropriate to include grey literature in a review.