This document provides guidance on writing an effective literature review for healthcare research. It discusses the purpose of a literature review, which is to explore previous related research, understand areas of conflict or need for further study, and justify the current research methodology. The document also offers "do's and don'ts" for writing a literature review, such as having a clear research question, using recent and relevant citations, and critically analyzing cited studies. Finally, it emphasizes that a well-structured literature review allows the current research to contribute to the ongoing discussion about the topic.

1. DO’S AND DON’TS IN
WRITING A SCIENTIFIC
LITERATURE REVIEW FOR
HEALTH CARE RESEARCH
An Academic presentation by
Dr. Nancy Agens, Head, Technical Operations, Pubrica
Group: www.pubrica.com
Email: sales@pubrica.com

2. In Brief
Purpose of Literature Review in Healthcare Research
Context of Literature ReviewWriting
Do’s and Don’ts in Literature Review
Conclusion
Outline
Today's Discussion

3. Healthcare research is a rapidly growing hey field necessitating the
need to do an adequate and comprehensive review of existing
literature on the subject. Clinical literature review services are in the
know-how of writing an effective literature review article.
In Brief

4. Seven Steps of
Writing a
Literature Review

5. The whole purpose of research is to increase the collective
understanding on the topic and contribute productively.
The number of publications, research, and journals are
increasing by the day with an increasing need for dedicated
medical writing or literature review services with domain-
related expertise.
Clinical literature review services are providing immense
support to busy clinicians and researchers on how to write a
literature review.
The purpose of a proper literature review can be
summarized as below : -
Contd..
Purpose of
Literature
Review in
Healthcare
Research

6. Literature review help explore previous research conducted in the field of interest,
the limitations and conflict areas identified and the need for further research.
It also helps one in understanding and formulating one’s area of research in a
better manner and justifies the methodology used.
Literature review article helps connect the statistical findings of the research with
prior research statistics.
It also conveys that the researcher is serious and dedicated about the research and
intends to complete the project.
Contd..

7. Literature review writing help is needed in preventing duplication of research
and avoiding redundant fields and is needed for good quality research paper.
Literature review is the preliminary step in any dissertation as part of an
academic requirement. How to write a literature review is also an important part
of the curriculum.

8. Introduction to a primary research topic – This sets the
context for the research article or dissertation by analysing
previously published literature and clearly defining the place of
the current research.
Systematic review –It is related to meta-analysis and provide
a quantitative or less often qualitative statistic summarizing
several papers.
Secondary data analysis projects- It is a research project on
its own and begins with a clear research question. The project
aims at analysing available data in answering the question.
There are various circumstances under which one must do a
literature review.
Context of
Literature
Review
Writing

9. 1. The research question should be clear and crisp,
preferably one that can be analysed quantitatively.
2. Picking up the right articles is an art and one should
have clear inclusion and exclusion criteria to perform
a relevant review.
3. Citations should be recent and relevant in the
current context.
4. Citations should include not only those studies with
clear-cut outcomes, it should also include those that are
inconclusive or require further research.
Contd..
Do’s and
Don’ts in
Literature
Review
1. Do’s

10. 5. Critical appraisal of the studies cited with an analytical review of the
same is to be done.
6. Adequate number of citations is often defined by the journal and that
needs to be followed.
7. Organise and document the data in a format that best suits and justifies
the research study.

11. 1. Research question should not be ambiguous as it will
result in a haphazard start to the research study.
2. Deviations or inconsistency in following the defined
inclusion and exclusion criteria make the findings unreliable.
3. Citations that are old and outdated in the current context
are to be avoided.
4. Bias in citations that intentionally quote only those that are
congruent in their conclusions to the current study should
be avoided.
Contd..
2. Don’ts

13. 5. Not weighing the studies under consideration for the quality of research result
in inclusion of poor-quality literature that make the outcomes unreliable.
6. Too few or too many citations fail to convey the crux in the correct proportions.
7. Data organised in a haphazard manner becomes inconclusive and does not
interest the reader and sends a wrong message about the quality of the study.
Contd..

14. Basically, depending on the requirement of the topic of literature research, whether it
is recent or been around for several years, whether most facts are clear or unclear,
whether researchers agree or disagree on most matters and what is the outcome
needed out of the literature search in context of the objective of the current study.
In short, the review should be well-structured and should have some form to the flow
of information.

15. Setting the factual context of the current research study is
the first step to participate in the ongoing ‘dialogue’ on the
subject and contribute positively to that area of research.
Literature review services help the busy researcher and
how to write a literature review article.
Conclusion

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