What do I do with the literature when I’ve found it? Alison Brettle, Lecturer (Information Specialist) School of Nursing and Midwifery University of Salford
Session Overview Challenges, techniques and tools for managing and presenting your literature Practical Discussion Toolkit/Wiki
Exercise In groups List 3 challenges to managing your information Identify 3 solutions
Solution 1: Be systematic Can still be systematic even if not doing a systematic review Borrow some of the systematic review principles and approaches Borrow/adapt tools that you would use in a systematic review
Systematic review process Define/focus the question Develop a protocol Search the literature (possibly 2 stages scoping and actual searches) Refine the inclusion/exclusion criteria Assess the studies (data extraction tools, 2 independent reviewers) Combine the results of the studies to produce conclusion– can be a qualitative or quantitative (meta-analysis) Place findings in context – quality and heterogeniety of studies, applicability of findings
Ways to be systematic Develop a protocol Provides a methodology for you to follow Keeps you focussed and on track Keeps a record (good evidence for your thesis)
Solution 2: Clarity What are you trying to achieve with your lit review? What questions are you trying to answer? Clarity about this will help You to work out what you need to get out of the papers How you can focus and structure your report/chapter/paper
Solution 3: Make use of technology Use a reference management package Need to invest some time up front this will be returned later (in the really stressful stages of your thesis writing) Import direct from databases Organise within the software Cite as you write Organise bibliographies and reference lists
Solution 4: Break it down Break your review/work into chunks Searching Screening Refining your question and your search Extracting/appraising Synthesising
Searching Quick and dirty (scoping) Refine Comprehensive search (of databases) – load all onto reference management package (don’t go through) After screening – Refine and additional sources
Screening Establish some criteria/rationale/frame work – based on aims (and apply to all) Screen by title and abstract Screen by full text Use a screening tool Update and record on reference management software
Extraction/critical appraisal Need to extract what is relevant to your review and critique it (back to your aims) Make use of pre-defined tools (adapt accordingly) Assessing quality – systems available – be explicit if you are going to do this Think how you are going to record them/use them (hard copy or electronic) Think how you are going to store them
Synthesise Begin with an overview – summary (volume, nature and quality of evidence) What are your themes? Think back to your aims and what you are trying to achieve Report on the parts of the papers that speak to these aims – remember to critique rather than simply be descriptive What is your end message?
Exercises In groups – choose a topic and draft a protocol In a group – choose a topic and draft a screening tool Individually – outline your inclusion/exclusion criteria and draft a screening tool Individually – articulate your aims and map out the themes for your literature review
Systematic review models Medical/Health care Cochrane Collaboration, NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination Usually includes “high quality” research evidence – RCTs Often includes meta-analysis (mathematical synthesis of results of 2+ studies that addressed same hypothesis in same way) Social care/Social Sciences SCIE, EPPI Centre, Campbell Collaboration Often include wider range of studies including qualitative Often narrative synthesis of evidence
Useful resources – systematic reviews Cochrane Collaboration Centre for Reviews and Dissemination handbook for conducting systematic reviews, Searching for systematic reviews EPPI-Centre – Stages of a review SCIE - The conduct of systematic research reviews for SCIE knowledge reviews pubID=111