Literature review methodology: a practical guide for health students

Whether you are a student in medicine, pharmacy, nursing, or public health, the literature review is a crucial step in your research work. It allows you to take stock of the current state of knowledge on a given topic and justify the relevance of a new study.

In this article, we offer you a practical guide to succeed in your literature review and save time in your documentary research.

What is a literature review?

A literature review involves searching for, selecting, analyzing, and synthesizing existing scientific publications on a specific topic. Its objective is to identify what has already been studied, spot gaps in knowledge, and place your research question in this context.

It is often essential in:

• Final year dissertations
• Clinical research protocols
• Scientific articles
• and narrative or systematic reviews published in medical journals.

Key Steps of a Literature Review

Here is the recommended methodology to efficiently structure your literature review:

1) Define a Clear Research Question

Before getting started, it is essential to formulate a precise research question. You can rely on the PICO method (Patient, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome), which is often used in medicine to structure your issue.

Example: In patients with chronic low back pain, do cognitive-behavioral therapies improve quality of life compared to medication alone?

2) Identify Relevant Sources and Databases

Prioritize specialized medical databases to ensure the quality and reliability of the publications:

• PubMed
• Embase
• Cochrane Library
• ScienceDirect
• Web of Science

And to save time, French platforms like PaperDoc let you search and summarize scientific articles using keywords or questions.

3) Build an Effective Search Strategy

Use precise keywords and consider synonyms, medical terms, and MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) terms to broaden or narrow your results.

Example strategy in PubMed:

(chronic low back pain) AND (cognitive behavioral therapy OR CBT) AND (quality of life)

4) Select Relevant Articles

Sort your results based on:

• Publication date
• Methodological quality (systematic reviews, randomized trials…)
• Clinical relevance to your question

Tip: Use a table to record the characteristics of studies (year, population, interventions, results, etc.).

5) Analyze and Synthesize Results

Don’t just summarize article by article; group data according to common themes or findings. Identify:

• Consensus points
• Controversies
• Gaps in the literature

This will help you justify the importance of your own work.

6) Tools to Facilitate Your Literature Review

• PaperDoc to centralize your searches and quickly obtain article summaries
• Zotero or Mendeley to manage your bibliographic references

Time-Saving Tips

✅ Set clear guidelines for your documentary research

✅ Systematically note the keywords and combinations you use

✅ Regularly update your review if conducted over several months

✅ Don’t hesitate to ask for advice from a librarian or instructor

Conclusion

The literature review is an essential exercise for any health student looking to work within a rigorous scientific approach. With a structured methodology and the right tools, it becomes simpler and faster to complete.

And to go even faster, consider using scientific research assistants like PaperDoc, which let you find and summarize medical publications in just a few clicks.

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