CHAPTER 6

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Understand the concept of literature review.

Describe the purposes of literature review.
Enumerate the types of literature review.
describe the major sources and stages of literature review.
Enlist the various key electronic data bases for nurse researchers.
Enlist the characteristics of a quality literature review.
Describe the flow of tasking in literature review.
 CHAPTER OUTLINE

Definition of literature review

Purposes of literature review
Literature review in quantitative and qualitative research
Time frame for literature review
Types of literature review
Sources of the literature review
Major stages in literature review
Steps in searching literature
Key electronic data bases for nurse researchers
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Writing literature review
Content of literature review
Priority for reviewing the literature
Depth and breadth of literature coverage
Characteristics of a quality literature review
Critiquing individual study
Selected electronic databases used in nursing research
 DEFINITION OF LITERATURE REVIEW
An organized written presentation of what has been published on a
topic by the scholars. Burns and Grove (2005)

An account of what has been published by accredited scholars and

researchers . Taylor(2011)
PURPOSES OF LITERATURE
REVIEW

• Source of research ideas

• Orientation to what is already known
• Provision of a conceptual context
PURPOSE OF • Information of research approach
LITERATURE • Determines gaps , consistencies and
inconsistencies
REVIEW • Discovers unanswered questions
• Describes the strengths and
weaknesses of studies
 LITERATURE REVIEW IN
QUANTITATIVE STUDY
Quantitative studies include a substantial
amount of literature to provide direction
for the research questions or hypotheses.
In quantitative study, the literature often is
used to introduce a problem in the
introduction; is described in detail in the
chapter of review of literature and
discussion. Regardless of the placement,
the literature is used deductively as a
framework for the research questions or
hypothesis.
LITERATURE REVIEW IN
QUALITATIVE STUDY

r e sh o u ld b e u s e d in a
Literatu ith
er th a t is c o n s is te n t w
m an n s o f
lo g y a s s u m p ti o n
the methodo uld
lit a tiv e r e se a r c h . I t s h o
qua it
in d u c tiv e ly s o th a t
be used s
o t d ir e ct th e q u e sti o n
does n
e d b y th e r e se a rc h e r.
as k
 COMPARISON OF LITERATURE REVIEW FOR
QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
DOMAIN LITERATURE REVIEW IN LITERATURE REVIEW IN
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
PURPOSE To direct the development and Literature does not guide and direct
implementation of a research study. the study, but rather become an aide
once patterns or categories have been
identified.

TIMING Major review is done at the beginning Purpose and timing depend upon the
of the research process and limited type of study.
review is continued during the
generalization of research report.
Relevant sources are cited in all
sections of the research report.
 COMPARISON OF LITERATURE REVIEW FOR
QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

DOMAIN LITERATURE REVIEW IN LITERATURE REVIEW IN

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

APPROACH Deductive approach:- which allows the Inductive approach:-

researcher to state clearly and The researchers write
measurably their research question(s) their literature review in
and hypotheses. the form that is
exploratory and in an
inductive manner.
 TIME FRAME FOR LITERATURE REVIEW
There is no set length of time for review. It depends on the type of
problem, sources available and goals of the scholar. Narrower the focus
of study – lesser time is needed. Researcher can continue the literature
review till the writing of report.
TYPES OF LITERATURE REVIEW
 1. NARRATIVE LITERATURE
REVIEW:- Critiques the literature
and summarizes the body of a
literature. Narrative review also
draws conclusions about the topic
and identifies gaps or inconsistencies
in a body of knowledge.

2. SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE
REVIEW:- Requires more rigorous
and well-defined approach compared
to most other types of literature
review. Systematic literature review is
comprehensive and details the
timeframe within which the literature
was selected.
• Meta-analysis:-
Researcher take findings
from several studies on the
same subject (studies done
on similar objectives) and
analyze these using
standardized statistical
procedures. Patterns and
relationships are detected
and conclusions are drawn.
• Meta-synthesis:- This
technique integrates,
evaluates and interprets
findings of multiple
qualitative research
studies. Meta-synthesis
literature review is
3. ARGUMENTATIVE LITERATURE REVIEW:- Here researcher examines literature selectively in order to
support or contradict an argument, deeply rooted assumption, or philosophical problem already established in the
literature. It should be noted that a potential for bias is a major shortcoming associated with argumentative literature
review.

4. INTEGRATIVE LITERATURE REVIEW : - Critiques, and synthesizes secondary data about research topic in
an integrated way such that new frameworks and perspectives on the topic are generated. If research does not involve
primary data collection and data analysis, then using integrative literature review will be only option.
SOURCES OF THE LITERATURE
REVIEW
PRIMARY SOURCE
It is written by a person who is
responsible for originating or
generating the ideas published.

SECONDARY SOURCE
It is the research report prepared
by someone other than the original
researcher
MERITS OF PRIMARY SOURCES
• Degree of accuracy is quite high.
• It does not require extra caution.
• It depicts the data in great detail.
• For some investigations, secondary
data are not available

DEMERITS OF PRIMARY
SOURCE
• It is expensive.
• Collection of data requires a lot of
time.
• It requires a lot of skills and labour.
MERITS OF SECONDARY SOURCES
• convenient
• It saves time and finance
• In some enquiries primary data cannot be
collected.
• Reliable secondary data are generally
available for many investigations.

DEMERITS OF SECONDARY SOURCE

• It is very difficult to find sufficiently
accurate secondary data.
• Difficult to find need based data.
• Extra caution is required.
• Non available.
MAJOR STAGES IN LITERATURE REVIEW

SEARCHING THE
LITERATURE

READING THE
LITERATURE

WRITING THE
LITERATURE
 STAGE 1:- SEARCHING THE LITERATURE
(Steps in Searching Literature)

DEVELOP A SEARCH STRATEGY SELECT DATA

SELECT KEY WORDS

 A. Develop a search strategy

Researcher uses various search strategy to locate relevant information.

Cooper (1998) has identified several approaches. Some of these are as
follow:–
Bibliographic Database
Decadency Approach
Ancestry Approach
Grey Literature
 B. Select Databases to Search
A bibliographical database is a compilation of citations relevant to a
specific discipline or from a variety of disciplines. To get best database
to search consider the following four things.
1. DOES THE DATABASE COVER TOPIC OF INTEREST?

2. WHAT TYPE OF LITERATURE DO RESEARCHER NEEDS TO

FIND?

3. WHICH JOURNALS ARE COVERED BY THE DATABASE?

4. AVAILABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY OF DATABASES

 KEY ELECTRONIC DATA BASES FOR NURSE
RESEARCHERS
CINAHL:- Cumulative index to nursing and allied health literature
MEDLINE:- Medical literature on-line
I.S.I:- Institute for Scientific Information
AIDSEARCH:- Includes more than twenty AIDS research data base
EMBASE:-The excerpty medical database
HAPI:- Health and psychosocial instruments database
Cochrane database of systematic reviews.
ERIC — (Education Resources Information Center database)
SCOPUS
Shodhganga
MedIND
ResearchGate:- European social networking site for scientists and
researchers
Index Copernicus
 C. Select the Key Words
To determine the key words, identify concepts, variables, population, interventions,
measurement methods or relevant outcomes; along with that subject headings and
phrases can be used. Example of keywords are described below:
 D. Performing Searches

One can perform simple as well as complex search strategy. It is always

useful to perform simple search first then move to complex search.
Initial search can be performed by identifying key words and then
proceed to next, one by one. Once researcher get saturated with initial
search then he/she needs to plan for complex search by combining two
or more concepts or synonyms in one search. Uses of operators, word
truncations are helpful for complex search.
 SEARCH LITERATURE USING BOOLEAN OPERATORS
Permit grouping of ideas, selection of places to search and to show
relationship within a data base record
Examine “Help Screen” to see whether the operators are available and
how they are used.
3 words – AND, OR and NOT.
Often capitalized.
Used with the identified concepts.
OR is used to broaden whereas NOT is used to narrow the search.
PERFORMING COMPLEX SEARCHES WITH USE OF
BOOLEAN OPERATORS
Using Boolean Operators in Performing Complex Search
 Search Literature using Word Truncation
It is a searching technique used in databases in which a word ending is
replaced by a symbol. Frequently used truncation symbols include the
asterisk (*), a question mark (?) or a dollar sign ($).Truncation is also
known as wildcard searching.

Search with Truncation nurs* resulted into

954135 search results. Truncation search all
the keywords start with nurse, nursing,
nurses, nurse educators and all related terms
 Limiting Literature Search

It varies with the data base. One can limit the years of search or only
full text articles, limits with language, type of publication, research
design, population etc.
LIMITING SEARCH WITH OPERATORS AND WILD CODE
SEARCH TOPIC HITS

NON-COMPLIANCE 2,45,845

NON-COMPLIANCE AND PSYCHIATRIC PAT* AND NUR* 1063

LIMIT TO ENGLISH 834

LIMIT TO ENTRIES WITH ABSTRACTS 432

LIMIT TO NURSING JOURNALS 274

LIMIT TO 2001-2010 99
E. Literature Search Recordings

Name of databases
Authors contacted Exclusion & inclusion
for further information criteria used

Websites visited & links

Date of performing search
pursued

Number of relevant
Exact search strategy used
articles found
Key words used
 Systematically Record References

Reference records can be maintained with the help of software as per

the format used in the reference list. APA (American Psychological
Association, 2000), Vancouver provides such software. It is always
useful to cross check the sources cited two or three times to prevent
errors. Apart from that, free software available software such as
ZOTERO, EndNOTE and MENDELEY. ZOTERO can be downloaded
from the website www.zotero.org.
F. Documentation of Retrieved Literature

Researchers will likely lose track of their efforts if they do not

document actions from the outset. It is highly advisable to maintain a
note book to record search strategies and search results. Researcher
should make note of information as described above and any
information that would help to keep track of what have been done.
RECORDING MECHANISMS OF RETRIEVED LITERATURE

Recording Mechanisms

Evaluati
Literature review matrices Literature review protocol
Methodo
on
logical
matrix
matrix
Results How
How
matrix much
have
What has confiden
researche
researche ce do we
rs studied
r found ? have in
this
the
research
evidence
question?
?
 STAGE 2 : READING AND CRITIQUING LITERATURE
SOURCES

References that have been identified through the literature search need
to be screened. Some of the points regarding screening are as follow
i) Is the reference readily accessible ?
ii) Is the reference relevant to the topic ?
ii) A third criterion may include the study’s methodological quality
 Steps in Reading and Critiquing the Information

SKIMMING SOURCES ANALYZING SOURCES

 STAGE 3:- WRITING LITERATURE REVIEW

A written literature review should provide reader with an objective,

well-organized current state of evidence on a topic of interest. Review
should reveal the current state of knowledge on a topic with regard to
themes deemed to be important, not simply describe what researchers
have done. Although key studies needs to be described in some detail, it
is not necessary to provide particulars for every reference. Studies with
comparable findings often can be summarized together.
 CONTENT OF LITERATURE REVIEW

A review of the literature should be neither a series of quotes nor a

series of abstracts. The central task is to organize and summarize the
references so as to make a systematic foundation for the study. The
review should point out both consistencies and contradictions in the
literature as well as offer possible explanations for the inconsistencies.
The literature review section should conclude with a summary of the
state of art of the problem under consideration. The summary should
point out not only what has been studied and how adequate the
investigations have been, but also should make note on any gaps or
areas of research inactivity.
 E
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PRIORITYEA FOR
O REVIEWING THE LITERATURE
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JOURNALS:-Begin with journal articles in respected, national journals, especially
those that report research studies (i.e. the author or authors poses a question or
hypothesis, collect data, and try to answer the question or support the hypothesis).
Begin with single studies and move on to syntheses on topics. Start with the most
recent studies in the area and then gradually work backwards. Always read the
abstract (or summary) first, as this will help you decide whether the article is
relevant and save working time.

BOOKS:-Next review books related to the topic. Begin with research monographs
that are summaries of the scholarly literature. Then consider entire books on a
single topic or which contain chapters written by different authors.
CONFERENCE PAPER:- Follow this research by reading recent
conference papers on a topic. Look for major, national conferences and
the papers delivered in them.
DISSERTATION:- If time permits, especially at the dissertation
proposal stage, look at the abstracts of dissertation in "
SHODHGANGA Dissertation Abstracts.
DEPTH AND BREADTH OF LITERATURE
Breadth of a literature
review:- It depend on
COVERAGE
how well-researched the
topic is. If there have
been fifty studies on a
specific problem, it would
be difficult for the
researcher to come to
conclusions about the
current stage of
knowledge on a topic
without reading all fifty
reports. Literature review
on new topics or little
researched problems are
necessarily broader, in
that peripherally related
studies are required in
order to develop a
 Depth of literature review:-With
respect to the depth of coverage of
studies in a review, the most important
criterion is that of relevancy. Research
that is highly related to the problem or
theory usually merits rather than
detailed coverage, including a
description of the purpose research
approach, instruments, sample, target
population findings and conclusions.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUALITY LITERATURE
REVIEW

CHARACTERISTIC
S OF A QUALITY
LITERATURE
REVIEW
 CRITIQUING INDIVIDUAL STUDY
Following questions may help to understand how and why the research was
carried out.

What is the author's central purpose?

What methods were used to accomplish this purpose (systematic recording of
observations, analysis and evaluation of published research, assessment of theory)?
What were the techniques used and how was each technique performed?
What kind of data can be obtained using each technique?
How are such data interpreted?
What kind of information is produced by using the technique?
What objective evidence was obtained from the author's efforts (observations,
measurements etc.)? What were the results of the study?
How was each technique used to obtain each result?
What statistical tests were used to evaluate the significance of the conclusions
based on numeric or graphic data?
 How did each result contribute to answering the question or testing the
hypothesis raised in the introduction?
How were the results interpreted? How were they related to the original problem
(author's view of evidence rather than objective findings)?
Were the author(s) able to answer the question (test the hypothesis) raised?
Did the research provide new factual information, a new understanding of a
phenomenon in the field, a new research technique?
How was the significance of the work described?
Did the reported observations/interpretations support or refute observations or
interpretations made by other researchers?
 SELECTED ELECTRONIC DATABASES USED IN
NURSING RESEARCH

THE CINAHL DATABASE

The CINAHL database is an extremely important electronic database for nurse.
CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) is an
index available in English and selected other-language journal articles
about nursing, allied health, biomedicine and healthcare. CINAHL indexes the
abstracts and articles from nearly 800 nursing, biomedical, and consumer health
journals, as well as publications of the American Nurses Association and the
National League for Nursing. CINAHL uses its own thesaurus terms, but they
are related to MeSH headings. It provides full text for hundreds of journals
indexed in the CINAHL database, and includes a higher number of records,
additional journals, and records dating back to 1937 and expanded content.
MEDLINE DATABASE (MEDICAL LITERATURE
ANALYSIS AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM ONLINE)

MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis

and Retrieval System Online, or
MEDLARS Online) is a bibliographic
database of life sciences and biomedical
information. It includes bibliographic
information for articles from academic
journals it is compiled by the United States
National Library of Medicine (NLM),
MEDLINE is freely available on
the Internet and searchable via PubMed and
NLM's National Center for Biotechnology
Information. The database contains more
than 26 million records from 5,639 selected
publications covering biomedicine and
health from 1950 to the present.
PubMed HOMEPAGE
i
t
u ISI WEB OF SCIENCE
t
e

f
o
r

S
c
i
e
n
t
i
f
WEB OF SCIENCE HOMEPAGE
 IndMED or MedIND INDEXES (NATIONAL
DATABASES OF INDIAN MEDICAL JOURNALS)

IndMED indexes Indian Biomedical journals. It is accessible from (

http://indmed.nic.in) to the medical professionals, free of cost. The
database aims at covering peer-reviewed journals from 1985 onwards.
To supplement IndMED with full text of articles, a resource i.e.
medINDwas developed to host full-text of indexed Indian biomedical
journals. This portal is accessible free of cost to the medical community
in India as well those outside the country.
MedIND DATABASE HOMEPAGE
 SCOPUS DATABASES
It is Elsevier’s abstract and citation database launched in 2004. Scopus
covers nearly 36,377 titles from approximately 11,678 publishers, of
which 34,346 are peer-reviewed journals from the fields of life
sciences, social sciences, physical sciences and health sciences. It
covers three types of sources i.e. book series, journals, and trade
journals.
COCHRANE DATABASE OF SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) is the leading

journal database for systematic reviews in health care. CDSR includes
Cochrane Reviews (systematic reviews) and protocols for Cochrane
Reviews as well as editorials and supplements. There are now over
7,500 Cochrane systematic reviews published in the Cochrane library
which plays a key role in developing new methods in evidence
synthesis.
COCHRANE LIBRARY HOMEPAGE
 Shodhganga : a reservoir of Indian theses @
INFLIBNET

Shodhganga stands for the reservoir of Indian intellectual output stored in a

repository hosted and maintained by the INFLIBNET Centre. Shodhganga provides
a platform for research scholars to deposit their Ph.D. theses and make it available
to the entire scholarly community in open access. The repository has the ability to
capture, index, store, disseminate and preserve ETDs (Electronic Theses and
Dissertations) submitted by the researchers of India.
Shodhganga Homepage
Index Copernicus International

It is an international,
specialized platform for
promoting scientific
achievements, as well as
supporting national and
international collaboration
between scientists, publishers
of scientific journals and
scientific entities. There are
currently about 6
300 journals from around the
world, including more than 2
000 from the Polish.
INDEX COPERNICUS Homepage
 EMBASE

Embase is a highly versatile, multi-

purpose and up-to-date biomedical
database. It covers the most important
international biomedical literature
from 1947 to till date. It is
a biomedical and pharmacological
bibliographic database of published
literature designed to support
information managers
and pharmacovigilance in complying
with the regulatory requirements of a
licensed drug.
Health and Psychosocial Institution (HaPI)

It is a bibliographic database that

contains over 200,000 records
providing detailed, comprehensive
information about health and
psychosocial measurement tools across
diverse disciplines and professions. For
over three decades, HaPI has been the
premier instrument database for
behavioral measurement instruments in
the fields of medicine, nursing,
psychology, public health, social work,
counseling, communication, and
sociology.
HaPI Database Homepage
 CHAPTER SUMMARY
A comprehensive review of literature serve many purposes such as it helps the
researchers to gain an understanding of the existing research and considerations
relevant to a particular topic of interest. A review of the literature should be neither
a series of quotes nor a series of abstracts. The central task is to organize and
summarize the references so as to make a systematic foundation for the study. The
CINAHL database is an extremely important electronic database for nurse.
CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) is an index
available in English and selected other-language journal articles
about nursing, allied health, biomedicine and healthcare. The Cochrane Database of
Systematic Reviews (CDSR) is the leading journal and database for systematic
reviews in health care.