How to Conduct a Literature Review
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Transcript of How to Conduct a Literature Review
How to Conduct a Literature ReviewJun 16, 2011
ROBIN FEATHERSTONE
What’s a Research Lit Review?
A research literature review is a systematic, explicit and reproducible method for identifying, evaluating, and synthesizing the existing body of
completed and recorded work produced by researchers, scholars, and practitioners.*
*Fink, A. (2005). Conducting Research Literature Reviews. London: Sage.
7 tasks in the Research Lit Review
1. Selecting research questions2. Selecting your sources3. Choosing search terms4. Running your search5. Applying practical screening criteria6. Applying methodological screening criteria7. Synthesizing the results
Selecting research questions
Why do you need a research question?
Scenario
You’re applying for a grant to support your research on management of patients with atrial fibrillation.
Think of a question related to this topic...
Possible questionsBroad:• What is the prevalence of atrial fibrillation?
Narrow:• What costs are associated with hospitalization
for atrial fibrillation?
Very Narrow:• What strategies have been utilized in Quebec to
reduce length of stay for patients with atrial fibrillation?
How questions influence search results
Relevancy
Retrieval(# of search results)
Broad Questions
Narrow Questions
High = lots of articles
Low = very few articles
High = directly relevant articles
Low = mostly irrelevant articles
Broad:• What is the prevalence of atrial fibrillation?
Narrow:• What costs are associated with hospitalization
for atrial fibrillation?
Very Narrow:• What strategies have been utilized in Quebec to
reduce length of stay for patients with atrial fibrillation?
Questions
Selecting your sources
Lit reviews depend on data from seven sources
1. Online public bibliographic databases2. Commercial bibliographic databases3. Specialized bibliographic databases4. Manual or “hand searches” of references lists5. “Grey literature”6. Web reports7. Expert opinions
Where to search Bibliographic Databases• Medicine
– PubMed (or Ovid MEDLINE), EMBASE, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO
• Multidisciplinary– Scopus– Web of Science
• Nursing and Allied Health– CINAHL
Websites• Associations, Organizations & Government
– World Health Organization, Health Canada, Canadian Medical Association, etc.
Other• “Grey Literature”
– Dissertations & Theses, SCOPUS (conference proceedings), Web search engines
Match the question to the sources1. Which smoking cessation programs are the most effective for cancer patients?
A. MEDLINE
2. What are proven methods for integrating simulators into surgical training?
B. PsycINFO
3. When should patients presenting with febrile neutropenia to the Emergency Department be administered antibiotics?
C. CINAHL
4. Which injection method is the most effective for administering lidocaine?
D. EMBASE
5. Which factors improve quality of life for patients post mastectomy?
E. SCOPUS
6. What is the analgesic efficacy for antipsychotic agents for chronic pain?
F. Cochrane Library
Choosing search terms
Breaking down your question
1. Select your database2. Break you question into concepts3. Identify subject headings for each concept4. Identify text words for each concept
• Tips: – Use a “target article” to help identify search terms– Use a worksheet to keep track of your terms
Different databases have different subject headings
• Tips:– Select subject headings that are the closest match for your
concept– Pay attention to “explode” commands – some databases will
search related headings by default, others will not
Database Subject Headings
Medline MeSH
EMBASE EMTREE
CINAHL CINAHL Headings
Cochrane Library MeSH
PsycINFO Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms
Scopus, Web of Science N/A
Which term explodes?
A. Bird Diseases B. Neutropenia
Identifying concepts & MeSH headings
Which concepts are contained in the question:
Does hydration decrease incidence of delirium at the end of life?
Find the MeSH heading(s) for each concept & add them to your worksheet
AND AND
OR exp Fluid Therapy/ Delirium/ exp Terminal Care/
OR Palliative Care/
exp Terminally Ill/
OR
OR
OR
Concept #1
Ovid MEDLINE strategy
Concept #2 Concept #3
Subject Headings
TextWords
Blank worksheets: http://muhclibraries.mcgill.ca/SearchStrategyWorksheet.doc
Key Operators in OvidOperator Command Example
* Find alternate endings to this word
nurs* [will find nurse, nursing, nurses]
.tw. Search for this term in the Title and Abstract fields
anxiety.tw.
adj Search for one term within x number of terms from another
patient adj3 anxiety [will find patient within three words of anxiety]
AND Find articles where both terms appear
smoking AND cessation
OR Find articles where either term appears
smoking OR tobacco
AND AND
OR exp Fluid Therapy/ Delirium/ exp Terminal Care/
OR Palliative Care/
exp Terminally Ill/
OR
hydrat*.tw. deliri*.tw. (terminal* adj4 patient*).tw.
OR
fluid*.tw. palliative.tw.
ORwater.tw. end of life.tw.
Concept #1
Ovid MEDLINE strategy
Concept #2 Concept #3
Subject Headings
TextWords
Running your search
Running your search(es)• Start with your first concept
– Search for the subject headings first– Then search text words– Combine these synonymous searches with OR using
your search history
• Repeat for your second, third, and subsequent concepts
• Finally, combine large search results set with AND
Running your search(es)
Search #2 =
Search #3 =
Search #4 =
Search #5 = #1 OR #2 OR #3 OR #4
Search #1 =
Concept 1
Search #6 =
Search #7 =
Search #8 =
Search #9 =
Concept 2
Search #10 = #6 OR #7 OR #8 OR #9
Search #11 = #5 AND #10
Results
Please complete the following search in Ovid Medline
AND AND
OR exp Fluid Therapy/ Delirium/ exp Terminal Care/
OR Palliative Care/
exp Terminally Ill/
OR
hydrat*.tw. deliri*.tw. (terminal* adj4 patient*).tw.
OR
fluid*.tw. palliative.tw.
ORwater.tw. end of life.tw.
Concept #1 Concept #2 Concept #3
Subject Headings
Text Words
Applying practical screening criteria
Screening
• Two kinds: practical and methodological
– Use practical screening to identify a broad range of potentially useful studies
– Use methodological screening to identify the best available studies
Practical Screening Criteria –examples
1. Date of publication – only studies conducted between 2005 and 2010
2. Participants or subjects – only children 6 to 12 years of age
3. Publication language – only materials written in English or French
4. Research design – only clinical trials
Apply Practical Screens
• Add the following screens (limits) to your combined search result set:
– English Language– Publication Year: 2001 – Current– Humans
Next steps
Working with your results
• Save or export search results into a citation manager (i.e., Endnote)
• Remove duplicates• Remove inappropriate studies by applying
methodological screens
Methodological Screening Criteria - some questions to ask
• Is the study’s research design internally & externally valid?
• Are the data sources used in the study reliable & valid?
• Are the analytic methods appropriate? • Are the results meaningful in practical &
statistical terms?* *Fink, A. (2005). Conducting Research Literature Reviews. London: Sage.
Moving to another source
• Retain as much of your original strategy as possible
• Recognize that subject headings will be different (or non-existent)
• Keep track of your search terms using new worksheets
Hand searching and final steps
• Locate the reference lists for selected articles*• Identify new articles that have cited your
articles*• Identify key journals and “hand search” their
issues• Test your search strategy by checking to see if a
few “target articles” appear in the results
* Use Web of Science or Scopus
Synthesizing the results
Use your results to...
1. Describe current knowledge about your research topic
2. Support the need for and significance of new research
3. Explain research findings4. Describe the quality of a body of research*
*Fink, A. (2005). Conducting Research Literature Reviews. London: Sage.
Useful Sites
• CADTH. Grey Matters: a practical search tool for evidence-based medicine - http://cadth.ca/en/resources/grey-matters
• Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews and Interventions - http://www.cochrane-handbook.org/
• IOM (Institute of Medicine). Finding what works in health care: standards for systematic reviews - http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2011/Finding-What-Works-in-Health-Care-Standards-for-Systematic-Reviews.aspx
Recap
• How would you describe a quality literature review?
• Synonymous searches are combined with ___• Can you apply methodological screens with a
database?
• Finally, please make your librarian happy by filling out your ____