Literature Reviews

STEP 1: Framing the Question & Scope

STEP 2:  Crafting the search strategies to identify relevant databases and publications

STEP 3: Organizing the sources using a citation manager (Endnote/Mendeley) 

STEP 4: Assessing the quality of the papers retrieved

STEP 5: Summarizing the evidence

STEP 6: Interpreting the findings

STEP 7: Writing and publishing the paper

• Determine if a systematic review has already been done on your topic.
• Develop the research question into an appropriate search strategy.
• Translate the search concepts into controlled vocabulary and keywords so that retrieval is maximized at the same time as being precise.
• Recommend specific databases and other information sources to be searched.
• Conduct or consult on the literature searches.
• Provide training to you, administrative staff or designated team member in how to access full text articles or request them via ILL/ Document Delivery.
• Help obtain or verify any references found from hand searching or other venues.
• Provide guidance and support regarding bibliographic management tools.
• Write or edit the literature search methodology section for the submitted manuscript.
• Maintain records of search results and follow up with alerts and updates as needed

Preliminary assessment of potential size and scope of available research literature.

Scoping reviews allow the investigator the opportunity to review the literature landscape and determine whether or not a more comprehensive review is feasible (too much or too few publications).  

May lead to change of research question, focus, or scope.