Reviewing the Literature: Levels of Evidence
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Searching Databases
Articles are published in journals, magazines, and newspapers that are indexed in a variety of online databases. Since no single database provides access to every article ever published, you may need to search multiple databases to find content you are looking for.
- Databases from RULA comprehensive, A to Z list of all available databases at Rutgers. Also contains the most current information of service disruptions.
Literature Reviews: Types of Reviews from Narrative to Systematic Reviews
There are many different types of literature reviews from traditional literature reviews to rigorous systematic reviews. Each has its own methodology. Please review resources on this page and familiarize yourself with the task, commitment, and purpose of each before trying to decide on the type of review best fitting your research question.
Please consult your thesis supervisor to decide on the type of review best fitting your research question.
- Types of Literature ReviewsAn overview of many types of reviews: systematic review, meta-analysis, scoping review, literature review, rapid review, etc. with definitions and background literature. From the University of Toronto.
- Review Methodology Decision TreeWhat type of review would you like to / are you able to write? This tool, from Cornell University Evidence Synthesis Service will help you make an informed decision.
- Study DesignsAn exhaustive guide reviewing the various types of study designs and literature reviews in health sciences from RBHS. Browse links to sub pages on types of studies, including differences, and comparisons.
Literature Review Tutorials
- Nutrition: Literature ReviewsA guide from UNC Chapel Hill on how to write literature reviews in nutrition. Includes a 10-page handout and links to many resources.
- Nutrition: Writing a Literature ReviewA short overview from WestChester University Libraries.
- Learn how to write a literature reviewDetailed description of each component of a literature review from the Writing Center of the University of Wisconsin.
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Literature Reviews: An Overview for Graduate StudentsVideo from NCSU(9:38 min), general topics.
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Social Work Literature Review GuidelinesA one-page summary from Purdue OWL.
What is PICO?
What is PICO(T)?
PICO is a tool commonly used in medical and health research to help researchers formulate a question. The difficulty in creating a question is often underestimated and PICO can help us parse out the important keys a good question should contain. This is just a tool, not a rigid structure in which all questions must fit.
P = Patient, Population, and/or Problem
I = Intervention
C = Comparison (not always applicable)
O = Outcome
T = *Type of Study (what study design is most appropriate to answer the question?)
Sometimes you will see PICO TT where the additional T stands for the type of question you are asking which you do need to know to determine the best study design.
*In some PICO(T) models you will see T stand for time. This only works if your question includes a concept of time.
Related LibGuides from Peer Institutions
- A Guide to Evidence Synthesis: Cornell University Library Evidence Synthesis ServiceThe most comprehensive guide recommended to NJAES researchers from the Evidence Service group at Cornell: This research guide provides an overview of the evidence synthesis process, guidance documents for conducting evidence synthesis projects, and links to resources to help you conduct a comprehensive and systematic search of the scholarly literature.
- Good review practice: a researcher guide to systematic review methodology in the sciences of food and healthA comprehensive guide from IFIS aiming to address recent quality issues of systematic reviews reported from food related topics.
- Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics Research (AFRE): Literature ReviewPart of a guide that provides research resources in the world of agriculture and natural resources. Topics include food security, economics of agricultural commodities, natural resources and businesses, rural economies, and international agricultural policies.
- Systematic Reviews or Narrative Reviews?This guide from Louisiana State University aims to introduce researchers into systematic reviews, but through comparison, it also help understand other types as well as the commitment involved.