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Community Health & Epidemiology: Literature Reviews

What is a Literature Review?

“an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers” http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/specific-types-of-writing/literature-review

“a comprehensive summary and critical appraisal of the literature that is relevant to your research topic” Williamson and Whittaker (2014) Succeeding in Literature Reviews and Research Project Plans for Nursing Students

“systematic, explicit, and reproducible method for identifying, evaluating, and synthesizing the existing body of completed and recorded work produced by researchers, scholars and practitioners” Fink, A. (2005) Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper, 2nd ed. London: Sage Publications

Introduction to Literature Reviews

For more detailed information on literature reviews...

For a more detailed treatment of literature reviews in the health sciences, please visit Catherine Boden's research guide.  It contains a wealth of information on the different types of reviews, focusing on systematic reviews. 

5 Ways to Structure a Literature Review

Pat offers other wonderful blog posts about the literature review process here.

Proximity Operators & Truncation in Databases

Organizing your Literature Review

More Resources on the Literature Review