Subject Guides
Literature Review and Evidence Synthesis
- Home
- Reviews as Assignments
- Annotated Bibliography
- Narrative Literature Review
- Integrative Review
- Scoping Review This link opens in a new window
- Systematic Review This link opens in a new window
- Other Review Types
- Subject Librarian Assistance with Reviews
- Grey Literature This link opens in a new window
- Tools for Reviews
Books
Searching Skills Toolkit by Caroline De Brun; Nicola Pearce-Smith
ISBN: 1118463129Publication Date: 2013-11-07Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review by Andrew Booth; Diana Papaioannou; Anthea Sutton
ISBN: 9780857021359Publication Date: 2012-01-24An Introduction to Systematic Reviews by David Gough (Editor); Sandy Oliver (Editor); James Thomas (Editor)
Call Number: Bartle Stacks H62 .I587 2012ISBN: 9781849201810Publication Date: 2012-04-05How to Do a Systematic Literature Review in Nursing by Josette Bettany-Saltikov
ISBN: 9780335242276Publication Date: 2012-05-01Evidence-Based Software Engineering and Systematic Reviews by Barbara Ann Kitchenham; David Budgen; Pearl Brereton
ISBN: 9780429157653Publication Date: 2015-11-04
Overview of a Literature Review
A literature review is a generic term used to describe a synthesis of information to answer a research question. The purpose of a literature review is to present the scholarly information that is available on a topic, provide support to the proposed research and relate the literature to the proposed research question. There are numerous types of literature reviews. They vary in complexity and methodology, from a narrative review to systematic review.
Review types differ by:
- The precision of the research question (broad to specific)
- The goal of the review (background to in-depth inquiry)
- The standards of the methodology employed (search and reporting methods)
- If the studies included are appraised
- How information from various sources are synthesized
- The analysis of the results (qualitative or quantitative)
- The description of the results (broad to specific)
How to Determine the Type of Review
Right Review This tool assists users to determine which evidence synthesis project is appropriate for their research question.
Various Types of Reviews
Review Typology Resources:
- Grant, M. J. & Booth, A. (2009). A typology of reviews: An analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies. Health information and libraries journal 26(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x
- Sutton, A., Clowes, M., Preston, L. & Booth, A. (2019). Meeting the review family: Exploring review types and associated information retrieval requirements. Health information and libraries journal. 36(3). https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12276
Review Type | Definition | Search Methods | Appraisal | Synthesis | Analysis |
Literature or Narrative Review (May be completed by a single author) | Generic term: A synthesis of current literature surrounding a specific topic. The purpose of this review is to provide background information on a topic, support a proposed research project and/or answer a research question. | Non-specific; Author chooses relevant articles based on a research question | Determined by author | Narrative | Chronological, conceptual, thematic, etc. Determined by author and research question |
Scoping/Mapping Review (Requires a minimum of 2 authors) | Preliminary assessment of potential size and scope of available research literature on a broad topic. Aims to identify the nature and extent of research evidence. Includes grey literature, preprints and ongoing studies. Scoping reviews are conducted according to the JBI manual of evidence synthesis. | Broad scope of literature available. Search methods must be transparent and reproducible. Search strategies for all databases are peer reviewed and documented in full. | All evidence is independently screened by 2 reviewers to ensure the evidence meets the inclusion criteria set within the protocol prior to starting the review. | Narrative | Characterizes quantity and quality of literature based upon the elements of the PCC research question and the inclusion/exclusion criteria |
Systematic Review (Requires a minimum of 2 authors) | Seeks to systematically search for, appraise and synthesize all research evidence on the specific research question posed. SRs are conducted according to the Cochrane or JBI guidelines | Exhaustive, comprehensive and systematic search. Search methods must be transparent & reproducible. Search strategies are peer reviewed & well documented. | All evidence is independently screened by 2 reviewers to ensure the evidence meets the inclusion criteria and critically appraised using the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklists | Narrative | Synthesizes what is known within the existing evidence/literature. Highlights what is unknown & recommends future research |
Umbrella Review (Requires a minimum of 2 authors) | Reviews the results of multiple systematic reviews on a specific topic. All reviews must analyze a shared methodology, facilitating comparison and analysis. Umbrella reviews are conducted based upon the JBI manual of evidence synthesis | Exhaustive, comprehensive & systematic search of reviews. Does not include primary studies. Search methods must be transparent, reproducible and well documented. | All evidence is independently screened by 2 reviewers to meet inclusion criteria and critically appraised using the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklists | Graphical and tabular with narrative commentary | What is known; Recommendations for practice. What remains unknown; recommendations for future research |
Rapid Review (Requires a minimum of 2 authors) |
Assessment of what is already known about a policy or practice issue, by using systematic review methods to search and critically appraise existing research. RRs are conducted according to the JBI manual of evidence synthesis | Completeness of searching determined by time constraints. All search strategies must be transparent, reproducible and well documented. |
Time-limited formal quality assessment. All evidence is independently screened by 2 reviewers and critically appraised using the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklists |
Narrative and tabular | Quantities of literature and overall quality/direction of effect of literature |
Meta-analysis |
Statistical analysis of quantitative evidence provided within a systematic review. Meta-analyses are conducted according to the Cochrane or JBI guidelines |
Exhaustive, comprehensive & systematic search of reviews. Does not include primary studies. Search methods must be transparent, reproducible and documented. | All evidence has been critically appraised in the systematic review | Graphical representation of the quantitative data in a Forest plot. | Numerical analysis of measures of effect assuming absence of heterogeneity |
Reproduced from Grant, M. J. and Booth, A. (2009), A typology of reviews: an analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 26: 91–108. doi:10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x
- Last Updated: Jul 12, 2024 12:34 PM
- URL: https://libraryguides.binghamton.edu/literaturereview
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