Report of INR Journal Club Meeting

1st MAY, 2021

TIME: 12:00 PM

TOPIC: RESEARCH PROCESS II: LITERATURE REVIEW

The meeting started at noon, with greetings from the moderator, Akinyemi Bose.

Each member was asked to register their presence in the group chat room and this continued as others joined the meeting.

At 12:13 pm, the speaker, Akingbade Oluwadamilare started the presentation by apologizing for the change in the speaker and the time scheduled for the meeting.

He introduced the topic and gave the objectives.

At the end of the presentation, each member is expected to:

• Understand the process of conducting a literature review.
• Carry out literature search independently.
• Understand pitfalls in designing a literature review.
• Write a review paper for publication.

He began by asking the group members about the meaning of a literature review and due responses were provided by the group members.

He explained what literature review is not:

• A series of quotes.
• Simply describe what researchers have done.
• An exhaustive bibliography on everything ever written on the topic.

What literature review is:

A critical appraisal of evidence to reveal current knowledge on a topic. 

He further explained that a researcher should not only find research articles that support his or her research, he/she should also search for articles that are at variance with his/her findings.

He discussed the purpose of a literature review (details are contained in the presentation material). 

Features of a good literature review: 

• Thorough and up-to-date
• Include recent research
• Relies on appropriate materials
• Well organized
• Objective
• Use appropriate language
• Paraphrases

Steps involved in literature review:

Identify the topic

He emphasized that a literature review should reveal the connection between what other researchers have said, while you show how their findings are related to your study, having a sound basis for what you are saying.

He explained that for a research article to be published in a well-recognized journal, the literature review should contain more primary literature sources.

He encouraged everyone (especially undergraduates, nurse interns) to search for review articles and be prepared to publish review articles.

After the presentation, he allowed the group members to ask questions which he answered appropriately.

Questions raised include:

• Can a review article be presented at a conference?

Answer: Yes a review paper can be presented but the abstract must be properly structured.

He further explained that a review paper would be published in the book of abstracts of a conference.

• Must a review paper be published before it is presented?

Answer: it may not compulsorily be a published article. A study conducted in progress could also be accepted.

He emphasized that the researcher goes through the conference protocol before presenting such an article.

• How many references should be reviewed to write a good review paper?

There is no standard for the number of references but the references should not be too small (e.g 15 works of literature) but 20-25 pieces of literature or more for such study. The literature review should not be too bulky without any quality or relationship to the study being carried out.

With the absence of further questions, he handed over the stage to the moderator by 1:45 pm.

Akinyemi Bose appreciated the speaker, while she encouraged other members to do so.

She appreciated everyone present at the presentation and wished everyone a happy weekend.

The meeting ended at 1:48 pm with 17 group members in attendance.

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