This document provides guidance on how to write a review article. It discusses the types of publications, benefits of publishing, and why review articles are popular. A review article provides an extensive critical analysis and synthesis of previous literature on a topic. The document outlines the components of a review article, including the title, abstract, introduction, body, conclusions and references. It also provides 18 steps for preparing a review article, from narrowing the topic to revising drafts. Sources for finding relevant literature are academic libraries and databases. The key aspects are to critically evaluate past literature, identify gaps, and provide a novel perspective to stimulate further research.

1. HOW TO WRITE A REVIEW ARTICLE?
Afifa Shafique
Ph.D. Pharmaceutics
Department of Pharmacy
Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan

2. OUTCOMES OF THIS PRESENTATION
 Types of publications
 Why to publish
 Why review article
 What is review article
 Why is review paper very popular??
 What is literature?
 What is literature review?
 How to review the literature?
 Ten simple rules to write literature review
 Types of review articles
 Components of review articles
 Preparing review article in 18 steps
 Sources and organizations providing publications

3. “NEVER LOSE AN OPPORTUNITY OF SEEING ANYTHING BEAUTIFUL,
FOR BEAUTY IS ALLAH’S HANDWRITING”
_RALPH WALDO EMERSON_
Research may
be done alone-
But it is never
done in isolation
Creation of new
knowledge
depends on past
knowledge

4. TYPES OF PUBLICATIONS
• Research paper in peer reviewed journals
• Short communication
• Review articles (highly cited)
• Conference proceedings (fewer citations)
• Popular articles (to promote your activity)
• Letter to editor

5. WHY TO PUBLISH??
Research isn’t complete until it’s published.
If research isn’t shared, it’s as if the research hadn’t been
done.
Work, Finish, Publish
Michael Faraday

6. WHY REVIEW PAPERS??

7. WHAT IS REVIEW PAPER??
 A critical, constructive analysis of the literature in
a specific field through summary, classification,
analysis, comparison.
 A scientific text relying on previously published
literature or data.
 A stand-alone publication.
A research study
about research
studies…

8. WHY IS REVIEW PAPER VERY POPULAR??
 It provides extensive review
of previously published
literature and to put them
into perspective
 It offers critical evaluation of
the published literature
 It creates an understanding
of the topic
 Identify gap in knowledge
 It provides a new approach/
perspective that would
stimulate further research

9. Review paper is more than
annotated bibliographies! You are
not trying to list all the published
materials but to synthesize and
evaluate it so as to provide a new
approach or stimulate further
research.

10. BEFORE DECIDING TO WRITE A REVIEW
PAPER, ASK THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

11. WHAT IS LITERATURE??
“A collection of all the scholarly writings on a topic.”
WHAT IS LITERATURE REVIEW??
“A systematic method for identifying,
evaluating and interpreting the work
produced by researchers, scholars and
practitioners.”
Your own
idea will
connect to
the
developing
knowledge
network in
the field.

12. Literature is about telling a
story…kind of a chain story where
each writer starts with a partial
story created previously by others
and expand on it…the existing
literature is the story so far…

13. HOW TO REVIEW THE LITERATURE??
READ PUBLISHED WORK
Read a wide range
of print and web-
base materials.
INTERPRETATION
Explain the
significance and
interpret the
evidence presented
in each piece of
literature – not
simply listed what
others have written.
SYNTHESIS
Creation of an
“integrated whole”
– Coherent
argument of the
topic that you are
reviewing.
Literature
Review

14. It is impossible to read all the research ever published in
your area…
The key is… be selective in
what you read – or else you’ll
get drown in too much
information!
Filtering and sorting the
essentials from the
irrelevant…

15. SEARCHING AND READING STRATEGY

16. SEARCHING AND READING STRATEGY (EXAMPLE)
Industrial
application of
gelatin
Halal gelatin
alternatives in
industry
Halal gelatin
in food
industry

17. 1. Define a topic and audience
2. Search and research the literature
3. Take notes while reading
4. Choose the type of review you wish to write
5. Keep the review focused, but make it broad
interest
6. Be critical and consistent
7. Find a logical structure
8. Make use of feedback
9. Include your own relevant research, but be
objective
10.Be up-to-date, but do not forget old studies
Ten simple rules for literature review

18. TYPES OF REVIEW ARTICLE
Typesofreview
article
By
methodological
approach
Narrative review
Best evidence review
Systemic review
By objective
Status quo review
History review
Issue review
Theory/model review
By mandate
Invited review
Commissioned review
Unsolicited review

19. DIFFERENCE B/W NARRATIVE AND SYSTEMIC
REVIEW

20. COMPONENTS OF REVIEW ARTICLE
A reviewshould consist of following…

21. Title
List of authors
Abstract
Table of contents Introduction
Body: Material
and Methods
Body: Main part
of review article
Conclusions
Acknowledgeme
nt
References
Illustrations:
Concept maps

22. 1. TITLE
 The title must be informative:
• The title has to include important
terms
• It has to indicate that the text is a
review article.
• It may include the message of the
article, not just its coverage
 The title must be short:
• Keep the title concise
• A longer subtitle may be an option in
case a specification is necessary
Identify the
article as a
systematic
review, meta-
analysis, or
both

23. 2. LIST OF AUTHORS
 Declare intellectual ownership
of the work
 Provide contact information
Discuss
authorship
as early as
possible!

24. 3. ABSTRACT
 Informs about the main
objectives and result of the
review article (informative
abstract) or indicates the text
structure (descriptive abstract).

25. 4.TABLE OF CONTENTS
Shows the readers the
organization of the text.
Helps orientation among
sections.
Some review journals
print an outline/table
of contents at the
beginning of the
article, others do not.
In general, these are
recommended for
extensive narrative
reviews.

26. 5. INTRODUCTION
 Provides information about the context , indicates the
motivation for the review, defines the focus, the research
question and explains the text structure.
 Elements:
 Subject background. The general topic , issue, or area of
concern is given to illustrate the context.
 “ Problem”. Trends, new perspectives, gaps, conflicts, or
a single problem is indicated.
 Motivation/ justification. The author’s reason for
reviewing the literature, the approach and the
organization of the text are described.

27. 6. BODY: MATERIAL AND METHODS
 Systematic and best evidence reviews have a
methods section.
 This section enables motivated researches to repeat
the review.
 Narrative reviews do not have a methods section
but should include some information about
applied methods at the end of the introduction.

28. 7. BODY: MAIN PART OF REVIEW ARTICLE
 Section structure:
 A coherent structuring of the topic is necessary to
develop the section structure.
 Subheadings reflect the organization of the topic and
indicate the content of the various sections .
 Possible criteria for structuring the topic are:
• methodological approaches
• models or theories
• extent of support for a given thesis
 Paragraph structure:
 Cover one idea, aspect or topic per paragraph.
 Avoid referring to only one study per paragraph;
consider several studies per paragraph instead.

29. 8. CONCLUSIONS
 Answer the research question set
in the introduction.
 Elements :
• implications of the findings
interpretations by the authors
(kept separate from factual
information)
• identification of unresolved
questions

30. 9. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
 Expresses gratitude to people who
helped with the literature search,
the structuring of the material or in
the writing process (but whose
contribution is too small to justify
co-authorship).
 Expresses gratitude to funding
organization and specifies the
funding program(often required by
funding agencies).

31. 10. REFERENCES
 Shows interested
readers how to find
the literature
mentioned in the text.
 Acknowledges the
work of other
scientists.
 Compulsory to avoid
charges of plagiarism
For narrative reviews
the inclusion of all
relevant ,high-quality
studies is the target.
Systematic and best
evidence reviews need
explicit criteria for the
inclusion/ exclusion of
studies from which
they got the data.

32. 11. ILLUSTRATIONS: CONCEPT MAPS
Concept maps are used in review
articles to visualize the structuring of
the topic, to show the relationships
between studies, concepts, models or
theories.

33. PREPARING REVIEW ARTICLE IN 18 STEPS
Prepare
Narrow topic,
define research Q.
Search for lit.
sources
Read, evaluate,
classify and make
notes
Redefine research
Q.
Develop structure
Compose a
preliminary title
Find structuring
principle for article
Prep. outline,
headings for sec.
Plan the content of
each paragraph
Prep tables, concept
maps, figures
Write draft
Draft the methods
section
Draft the body
section
Draft the
conclusions
Draft the
introduction
Draft the abstract
Revise
Revise draft,
abstract, title,
tables, figures
Revise citations and
references
Correct grammar,
spelling,
punctuation
Adjust the layout

34. Hmmmm…. Where do
I look for resources for
my literature review??

35. SOURCES AND ORGANIZATIONS PROVIDING PUBLICATIONS
 Academic libraries
 Database sources
Google Scholar
Scopus
ISI Web of knowledge
JSTOR Search
Medline
PubMed
ScienceDirect
Wiley
Springer

36. MANAGING THE LITERATURE
 Summarize
 Tabulate
 Use bibliographic software (Endnote)

37. LENGTH OF REVIEW

38. “Whatever is worthdoing
At all is worthdoing well”
PhilipDormerStanhope