Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper

"This is a great book for students, both for classroom use and to keep on their bookshelves once they graduate."
―Gale Spencer, Binghamton University

Conducting Research Literature Reviews, Second Edition shows readers how to identify, interpret, and analyze published and unpublished research literature. Through the use of checklists, case examples, and exercises, author Arlene Fink unravels the intricacies of

• Selecting questions to maximize the efficiency of the review
• Identifying subject headings and key words for electronic searches
• Identifying the most appropriate databases, including supplementing computer and Web-based searches
• Dealing with unpublished studies
• Setting inclusion and exclusion criteria
• Justifying methods for reviewing only the "highest quality" literature
• Preparing a structured literature abstraction form
• Ensuring the reliability and validity of the review
• Synthesizing and reporting results
• Conducting and evaluating descriptive literature reviews
• How to understand and evaluate the principles of meta-analysis

New to the Second Edition:

• Flow diagrams to assist the reader in linking each step of the review to the contents of each chapter
• New references and other online resources, including links to online literature reviews and meta-analyses
• Guidance in choosing online public and private bibliographic databases for literature reviews
• Tips for searching the web for research information

The text also discusses the use of Boolean operators for simple and advanced searches and shows readers how to use bibliographic software to organize literature reviews and search "The Virtual File Cabinet." It also describes how to synthesize the literature as a stand-alone report or as a component of a paper or proposal.

This book is intended for anyone wants to research social, health, educational, and business issues. It is ideal for students, researchers, marketers, planners, and policymakers who design and manage public and private agencies, conduct research studies, and prepare strategic plans and grant proposals.

Praise for the First Edition

"There is finally a book available that removes the mystery and guesswork from doing literature reviews. This is especially important for both graduate and undergraduate levels if you are asking the students to make judgments about the quality and applicability of articles they may read. This book is not only timely but also a valuable way to help students evaluate articles they find on the Internet."
―Anita VanBrackle, Kennesaw State University

Arlene Fink (PhD) is Professor of Medicine and Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles, and president of the Langley Research Institute. Her main interests include evaluation and survey research and the conduct of research literature reviews as well as the evaluation of their quality. Dr. Fink has conducted scores of evaluation studies in public health, medicine, and education. She is on the faculty of UCLA’s Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program and is a scientific and evaluation advisor to UCLA’s Gambling Studies and IMPACT (Improving Access, Counseling & Treatment for Californians with Prostate Cancer) programs. She consults nationally and internationally for agencies such as L’institut de Promotion del la Prévention Secondaire en Addictologie (IPPSA) in Paris, France, and Peninsula Health in Victoria, Australia. Professor Fink has taught and lectured extensively all over the world and is the author of more than 130 peer-reviewed articles and 15 textbooks.