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Reviewing the literature : adopting a systematic approach
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Bruce, J. (Julie) and Mollison, Jill (2004) Reviewing the literature : adopting a systematic approach. Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care, 30 (1). pp. 13-16. doi:10.1783/147118904322701901
An open access version can be found in:
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1783/147118904322701901
Abstract
Although this Journal regularly accepts narrative rather than systematic reviews, the aim of this short paper is to encourage practitioners and researchers in family planning and reproductive health care to adopt a thorough and objective approach to literature reviews. It is hoped that readers appreciate what constitutes a systematic literature review and their application in identifying current knowledge in family planning to facilitate practice. The systematic review overcomes much of the subjectivity of traditional narrative reviews by using an objective approach to reduce bias. The key stages in conducting a review outlined above should be considered, namely: comprehensive identification of relevant literature, explicit inclusion criteria, critical assessment of included studies, summarising data in an informative manner and interpretation of findings. It is recommended that reviews be as systematic as is practical but there is often a trade-off to be considered between time and cost of conducting a review against resulting quality. Busy practitioners may not have the time or resources to conduct systematic reviews to the standards recommended by the Cochrane Collaboration or the NHS CRD. In practice, reviews span from subjective essays based upon personal opinion to 'Cochrane-style' systematic reviews. Nevertheless, we hope this paper emphasises the need for methodological rigour when literature reviewing and encourages practitioners to move along the continuum away from personal opinion towards objective, systematic reviews.
| Item Type: | Journal Item | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subjects: | R Medicine > R Medicine (General) | ||||||
| Divisions: | Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences > Clinical Trials Unit Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School |
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| Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care | ||||||
| Publisher: | BMJ | ||||||
| ISSN: | 1471-1893 | ||||||
| Official Date: | January 2004 | ||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 30 | ||||||
| Number: | 1 | ||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 13-16 | ||||||
| DOI: | 10.1783/147118904322701901 | ||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||
| Open Access Version: |
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