Nur512

I reviewed Chapter 5 in your course textbook. Here I hope to supplement what you have read by:

• elaborating on some points that Polit & Beck (2008) have made
• reviewing relevant library and internet resources
• providing some examples

As the authors note, the central question of written reviews is: “What is the current state of evidence on this research problem?” Researchers want to know, “What is the current state of knowledge on the question that I will be addressing in my study?”

Polit & Beck go on to say that ..”a good literature review, regardless of length, requires thorough familiarity with available evidence.” This page will link you with the resources to find that evidence.

You can find primary source research reports and secondary source research documents in the resources below. But keep in mind that “Conducting a high-quality literature review is ...an art and a science.” It is indeed a bit like being a detective and does requires some sleuthing. The research universe is vast! There is no hard and fast rule about finding information because each inquiry can be so different. But there are different tools -resources- you can pull out of your toolbox depending on the circumstances and need.

Polit & Beck’s suggest having a flexible approach to data collection and thinking creatively about opportunities for new sources of information. I agree. This may include visiting the National Guideline Clearinghouse for guidelines along with association and society websites for information and publications. Their suggestion to consult with librarians, colleagues, and faculty on suggestions for finding information on your research interest is a good one.

One last thing before we proceed. It is important that you are clear on what a systematic review is. So, see page 2 of this link - What are Systematic Reviews?

Let’s look at a systematic review from a resource that creates and maintains them.
Example 1

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

search by Author - enter Rice VH

to bring up this citation: Rice, VH. Stead, LF. Nursing interventions for smoking cessation. [Systematic Review] Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 4, 2008.

Choose EBM Topic Review to get the full-text of this systematic review

Look at the Outline on the left-hand side for all of the sections of information you can jump to

Click on the Methodological Quality link and review

(go back)
Click on the References Link and review

(go back)
Click on the Characteristics of Included Studies (may have to open tables) and review

(go back)
Click on the Characteristics of Excluded studies (may have to open tables) and review

There are under 5,000 systematic reviews in this database. Can you see how much work they entail? But do you also see the benefit when you find one?

In this section, I take Polit & Beck’s outline and provide some examples:

1. Searching for references through the use of bibliographic databases - searching by keyword, subject, and/or author in established databases like CINAHL and Medline.

In CINAHL, consider using these limits if appropriate to focus your search: Research Article, Clinical Queries subset (for therapy, prognosis, review, qualitative, causation/etiology), Publication Type subset (systematic review), Evidence Based Practice.

There are also other databases that serve as filtered resources like the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (see Example 1) and other databases, especially the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials found within Evidence Based Medicine Reviews. These latter filtered sources aim to identify methodologically-sound research articles and do some of the evaluation work for you.

2. Ancestry Approach or “footnote chasing” - using references or citations from relevant studies to track down earlier research (the ancestors). For example, find a good, current article, look at the references, and select the ones that seem most seminal and important to follow-up on. Several tools have evolved to help you find those good articles besides CINAHL and Medline. Most of the tools, or resources, are clinically oriented. Consider Nursing Reference Center‘s evidence based care sheets (see Example 2 below), Clinical Evidence and UpToDate both available via HUBNET, and PubMed Clinical Queries (see Example 4 below).

Clinical Evidence constantly updates summaries of the current state of knowledge and uncertainty about the prevention and treatment of important clinical conditions. It is based on thorough searches and appraisal of the literature. It describes the best available evidence from systematic reviews, RCTs, and observational studies where appropriate, and if there is no good evidence it says so.

UpToDate provides synthesized knowledge by clinical experts for specific, detailed answers to clinical questions.

3. Descendancy Approach - finding a pivotal early study and searching forward in citation indexes like Web of Science to find more recent studies (”descendants”) that cited the key study, generally continuing the research thread. (see Example 3 below). CINAHL also offers cited reference searching. Enter CINAHL and use the More Tab to select Cited References. Find the original item (for example, Cited Author Brown JK and Cited Year 2003), view it and choose Times Cited in this Database.

Example 2 Nursing Reference Center
(Nursing Reference Center is available at UB and many of the local teaching hospitals)

Practice Resources Tab

Evidence Based Care Sheets

Enter caregivers and dementia - use the relevancy ranked button

Both items are the same - choose one

Review the References, Bibliography, and Coding Matrix for the evidence based care sheet

How many systematic reviews did the reference list provide?

Example 3 Web of Science (Web of Science is available at UB)

Dr. Jean Brown, Dean of the Nursing School, is the lead author of this article: Brown JK, Byers T, Doyle C, et al. Nutrition and physical activity during and after cancer treatment: An American Cancer Society guide for informed choices (2003) CA-A CANCER JOURNAL FOR CLINICIANS 53(5)Sep-Oct:268-291.
After looking at a copy of the article and reviewing all of the references, you are now interested in looking at articles that have cited Dr. Brown’s article. In essence, you want to take her research thread forward in time.

Your mission? Find the article in Web of Science. Once the citation comes up, click on the number next to Times Cited. Review some of the titles of articles it found. Do you see how this might be useful? Sometimes this leads to articles and research pathways not found when searching traditionally.

Example 4 PubMed Clinical Queries (PubMed is open to the world - use it now and after you graduate courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine)

Say you are looking for information on the use of sucrose to help infants through painful procedures

Search by Clinical Study Category and keep therapy as the radio button

Enter sucrose pain infants

Review the results and look at an item. There may be a full-text link on the right hand side. If not, check our e-journal link to see if we subscribe.

Also take a look at Related Articles to see what might interest you.

• Sometimes no full-text link is provided, but the library may still have an electronic copy of the article you are looking for. Try looking in the following locations for the journal articles you are having problems with. Search by the name of the journal.

UB Libraries' electronic journal list

BISON catalog

• Keep in mind that most journals started providing electronic access around the mid-1990’s. Use the catalog to find out if the library has a print copy (along with the electronic one) so you can make a photocopy.

• So what happens if you still can’t find the journal or date you need? Request a copy through Interlibrary Loan, using ILLIAD. This service is fast, easy, and there is no cost to you.
  

Multi-Search
Scirus science-specific search engine (open to the world)

Top Resources
Sharon Murphy, MLS, AHIP, R.N.
ASKHSL e-mail reference service
Sharon Murphy's e-mail