How to Write an EBP Literature Review
EBP Literature Review
Meaning of Evidence
Evidence is the proof presented to a clinical question to attest to the possible outcomes of a clinical practice. It is usually achieved through the judicious integration of sound scientific researches, personal medical expertise and other important considerations related to individual patients such as their values and preferences.
“Journal Articles” and “Peer Review”
Journals articles are usually non-fiction writings in a collection of other print or online works on related subjects. They are published regularly to offer insight on the most current research on specific topics of discussion. Therefore, they are written by experts for other scholars interested in the matters discussed (SFU Library, 2018). Peer Review is a process through which articles on particular subjects go through before they can be approved for publication. It involves a comprehensive evaluation of a scholarly work by other experts in the field to assess its authenticity, quality, and validity.
What a Literature Review is and it’s Use in Clinical Decisions
Literature review involves the search and critical evaluation of available publications on a particular subject or topic of discussion. It helps researchers to establish the nature of his research by determining the current theoretical and methodological base from other literatures. In making clinical decisions, literature review enables the clinician to gain a deeper understanding of a subject area from relevant and valid written sources of data before they can reach a conclusion.
Purpose of Doing a Literature Review
There are various purposes for carrying out a literature review. The major ones includes to identify and outline the available research gaps so as to propose or decide on the subject area of the next research, to give a clear illustration of how the subject area has been studied in the past, to identify and highlight the flaws of previous researches, to ensure originality of one’s research by avoiding repeating what other researchers have done, justify the significance of one’s research, and to enable the researcher to learn from other scholars in the field (CQUniversity Library, 2018).
Criteria for a Good Literature Review
According to Thesis Hub (2017), a good literature review avoids the application of outdated materials that have lost their relevance in the present world. This enhances the application of current best evidence ideas in the research. It is also thorough, critical and precise. Highlighting the similarities and differences in the pieces of literature also enable the researcher to come up with a conclusion on the entire review.
IMRaD
IMRaD is an acronym used in researches to stand for Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion. It is a format used in structuring scientific articles. IMRaDs are short and concise avoiding ambiguity and use of separate theory chapters (“Søk & Skriv,” 2017).