SCSU Hilton C. Buley Library: *Nursing*: Literature, Systematic, and Integrative Reviews

Literature Reviews

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:

Literature Reviews for Education and Nursing Graduate Students by Linda Frederiksen, Sue F. Phelps
Publication Date: 2017
A well-received textbook covering the value of literature reviews as well as detailed guidance on writing them. Includes a chapter on the Types of Literature Reviews
Literature Review and Synthesis (print) by Susan Weber Buchholz; Kirsten A. Dickins
Call Number: Stacks RT41 .B87 2023
ISBN: 9780826152138
Publication Date: 2022
This innovative text helps nursing students and working nurses to master the essential skill of synthesizing diverse forms of literature to inform research, practice, and policy in Nursing and the Health Science disciplines. Awarded first place in the 2022 AJN Book of the Year Awards in Nursing Research
Doing a literature review in health and social care : a practical guide (print) by Aveyard, Helen
Call Number: Stacks RA440.85 .A949 2023
Publication Date: 2023
A step-by-step guide to doing a literature review for students in all areas of health and social care. (Undergraduate & Graduate)

Finding Reviews

CINAHL Complete This link opens in a new window
In both the Basic and Advanced Search, CINAHL has a Review Articles checkbox. This will retrieve literature reviews, systematic reviews, and integrative reviews. The EBM (Evidence Based Medicine) Reviews check box will retrieve mostly systematic reviews from Cochrane Reviews which may have to be searched for separately within our Cochrane subscription. Meta-Analysis is an option under Publication Type. Meta-analyses will include a systematic review. In the Publication Type menu, you can select both Meta-Analysis and Review at the same time (use CTRL-click or Cmd-click to select multiple options in the menu). Reviews will also appear in the results when using the Research check box -- look in the text immediately following the article title for a indication of what type of article it is, Research, Systematic Review, etc.
CINAHL Complete is a resource for nursing and allied health professionals, students, educators and researchers. Indexing, abstracts, and full-text from nursing and allied health journals. The base CINAHL with Full Text is paid for by ResearchIT and the CT State Library.
Medline Complete This link opens in a new window
In both the Basic and Advanced Search, Medline has a Review Articles checkbox. This will retrieve literature reviews, systematic reviews, and integrative reviews. The EBM (Evidence Based Medicine) Reviews check box will retrieve mostly systematic reviews from Cochrane Reviews which may have to be searched for separately within our Cochrane subscription. Meta-Analysis is an option under Publication Type. Meta-analyses will include a systematic review. In the Publication Type menu, you can select both Meta-Analysis and Review at the same time (use CTRL-click or Cmd-click to select multiple options in the menu). Reviews will also appear in the results when using the Research check box -- look in the text immediately following the article title for a indication of what type of article it is, Research, Systematic Review, etc.
MEDLINE provides authoritative medical information on medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, pre-clinical sciences, and much more. Created by the National Library of Medicine, MEDLINE uses MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) indexing with tree hierarchy, subheadings and explosion capabilities to search citations from over 4,800 current biomedical journals. Use instead of PubMed.
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews This link opens in a new window
Cochrane Reviews are the gold standard for systematic reviews. They are included in CINAHL and Medline searches but may not be linked to the full text of the review available in the Cochrane database, so it is useful to search Cochrane separately.
TRIP Medical Database (Turning Research Into Practice) This link opens in a new window
Do a basic or PICO search, and limit to Systematic and other review types using the options on the right of the results list.

Grey Literature

"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.

CADTH (Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health) Grey Matters
Suggestions and directions for searching for grey literature