Literature Review Paper
Literature review paper
One of the main learning exercises in the course is a Literature review paper. The literature review paper’s purpose is to answer a significant clinical question. Most of your discussions and activities in this course are created to build the skills need it to write this paper. To do this paper you need to work each week on assignments, that will help you build your skills for the successful completion of this assignment.
Your paper should be 5-6 pages long (double-spaced, 12 font) not including the references and title page). You should have a reference page of at least
eight (8) academic sources, including at least five (5) primary research sources that specifically answer the review question. Use APA format for references and citations. All papers must be submitted to be reviewed for similarity, any paper with a score of 20% or higher in the similarity index, will receive an automatic “0”, and will not be reviewed until the similarity score is below 20%.
Step by step directions and a rubric is posted below. After your paper has been corrected and graded, you have the option to revise your literature review paper in order to improve your writing and correct your mistakes. If there is a significant improvement, the grade will be increased. Revisions are due a week after receiving feedback.
Instructions:
Your paper needs to follow the following criteria:
1. Choose a problem faced by clients in your practice area that you think is important and would like to learn more about.
2. Use your knowledge of PICO to develop a well-built narrow clinical question. For example: In adult patients with total hip replacements (P), how effective is pain medication (I) compared to aerobic stretching (C) in controlling post-operative pain (O)? (the development of the PICO question should not be included in the paper)
3. Write a five (5) to six (6) page literature review paper on the standing knowledge of the chosen question.
4. Include a minimum of five (5) journal articles, at least three (3) from nursing journals. However, make sure that the (5) journals are the ones analyzed and synthesized in the results and discussion sections.
5. The body of the paper should be made of the following titled sections: Title (introduction), Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion.
6. Provide a specific and concise tentative title for your literature review paper (You may use the results or at least the variables in the title).
7. The abstract is not required
8. Include a 1-page introduction of your topic (background information), the focus/aim of your review. The introduction should include a statement of the problem, briefly explain the significance of your topic study, and act to introduce the reader to your definitions and background. Must include your main statement (i.e. the purpose of this review is…{PICO Question}).
9. The method section should include sources, databases, keywords, inclusion/exclusion criteria, levels of evidence, and other information that establishes credibility to your paper
10. The results should summarize the findings of studies that have been conducted on your topic. For each study, you should briefly explain its purpose, procedure for data collection, and major findings. This is the section where you will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of studies
11. Submit a table of the studies as per the matrix development
12. The discussion should be like a conclusion portion of an essay paper. It serves as a summary of the body of your literature review and should highlight the most important findings. Your analysis should help you to draw conclusions. In this section, you would discuss any consensus or disagreement on the topic. It can also include any strengths and weaknesses in general of the research area. If you believe there is more to research, you may include that here.
13. Finally, you will need to conclude your paper. At this point, you have put substantial effort into your paper. Close this chapter with a summary of the paper, major findings, and any major recommendations for the profession.
14. In general, your paper should show a sense of direction and contain a definite central idea supported with evidence. The writing should be logical, and the ideas should be linked together in a logical sequence. The ideas need to be put together clearly for the writer and for the reader.
15. Papers will be graded by rubric. When preparing to work on an assignment it is a good idea to review the rubric for the assignment. The rubric identifies the important points that will be graded as well as the description of the information that should be provided to receive all of the points in each section of the assignment. Reviewing the rubric before you begin a paper and then once again as you complete the paper will give you confidence that you included the required information and will receive maximum points for each section. See the grading rubric for this assignment.
16. Format references and citations using APA guidelines.
Rubric:
1- Research Articles
• You must provide five research articles that specifically answer the clinical question.
• You may use additional professional resources for the paper such as statistical reports, and other research articles for the introduction, background, and the discussion section.
• You can find more information about the difference between research and review articles in lesson 3.
• Research articles can be randomized control trials, cohort studies, case control studies, cross-sectional studies, case series or reports, qualitative studies, secondary research, or basic science research, narrative reviews, systematic reviews, or meta-analyses
(Identifies and uses five or more “directly relevant” peer-reviewed primary research journal articles published in the last five years.)
2- Title
The title is descriptive of the question or findings results of the review.
(Writes a clear and concise paper title. The title reflects the main topic of the literature review)
3- Introduction: 1. Establishes the topic’s importance/ background.
• Define the topic of your study and provide any background information that helps your reader to understand the topic.
• Explain your reason (perspective or significance) for reviewing the literature on this topic.
• State your inquiry question for this review.
(the introduction covers relevant and current articles in detail. Only scholarly articles are used to build the argument for the need for the review.)
4- Problem Statement. Describe your problem and its significance in words.
Provide a background of the problem.
(Introduces and provides the groundwork to the laid the direction of the review. Presents statistical data to establish why the topic is important ( incidence, prevalence, mortality, cost). Defines key terms to help the reader understand the topic.)
5- Inquiry Question
(Builds develop, and format an inquire question paragraph using well- build PICO (do not use the PICO, but the proposed question). Uses a narrow foreground question in its approach.)
6- Purpose of the Paper
(Explicitly writes the paper’s purpose, uses a statement that has an action verb (describe, analyze, compare, synthesize).)
7- Identifies the Methodology for Searching the Evidence
• A comprehensive description of how the review was executed
• Description of the search strategy, the selection of databases used with justification, and the search terms used.
• Specifies selection rules, including inclusive and exclusion criteria.
• Identifies levels of evidence and why these sources were used in the review.
(Concisely details and provides information about the article selection, including search engines used, search terms (keywords), and inclusion/exclusion criteria. In addition, the number and type of articles included are clearly stated. Levels of evidence are acknowledged and applied to the search.)
8- Results Section 1. Analysis of Findings
The results section characterizes the body of literature included in the review and synthesizes the findings.
(Search and select five or more relevant journals for review. Uses articles that are interrelated and build upon each other to show the reader the state of knowledge of the topic.)
9- Synthesis of evidence
(Synthesize each article by its study design. For example, sampling strategy(inclusion/ exclusion criteria), study setting, data collection procedures, the approach used for data analyses, and limitations.)
10- Tables
(The table is present and is labeled correctly. The table is consistent and provides details that synthesize the review’s primary data. Therefore, the table is presented in APA criteria.)
11- Discussion Section. Significance and synthesis of findings
• The discussion summarizes the body of your literature review and highlights the most important findings (in your opinion)
12- Limitations
(Describes studies limitations and compares results to other research publications)
13- Discussion Section. Nursing Practice Relevance
(Nursing practice relevance of the topic area is clearly stated. In addition, the importance of the review itself and how its findings may address/inform nursing is stated)
14- Conclusion
• Summarize the main findings from the articles
• Conclude your paper by connecting your inquiry question back to the context of the problem of the review.
• Includes the “so-what factor.”
(Writes most paragraphs with an identifiable topic. Some sections include more than one topic.)
15- Quality and Organization.
1. Paragraphs
Logical arrangement of supporting points in coherent paragraphs; Effective transitions.
Format and outline are appropriate for the academic manuscript. All assigned elements include a correctly formatted APA title page and reference page.
Consistent APA format and citations throughout the paper
2. Organization
The review was organized using subheadings. The study was suitably organized considering the contents of the selected articles.
3. The logical flow of ideas
The reader is guided smoothly through the logically arranged paper.
4. Mechanics
There were no grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors, and transitional phrases were used to guide the reader throughout the text.
5. Organization
The Final paper is double spaced in a 12- point serif font, has 1- inch margins, 7th Ed. APA-style headings and includes in-text citations and reference list for all citations and references.
