This is a scientific narative literature review and must follow this order. The NLR is our Assignment topic!
Abstract (200-250 words)
• The abstract should highlight the main points of the literature review.
• There are two types of abstracts (informative abstract and descriptive abstract).
o Informative abstracts are used for systematic and best evidence reviews (Objectives, materials and methods, results and conclusions).
o Descriptive abstracts are a summary in the form of a single paragraph.
• For NLRs a descriptive abstract is used.
• Descriptive abstracts are written in the present tense.
• The abstract should not include references, tables or figures.
• The abstract should not include acronyms or abbreviations.
• The abstract should be between 200-250 words.
Introduction (400-600 words)
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• The introduction provides the background for the study (the nature of the problem and its significance) and also clearly states the objective of the study (the reason to author decided to write on the particular topic).
• The introduction must be brief and focused- setting the scene by summarising relevant literature.
• References are used in the Introduction since a lot of information from the literature is provided in this section as background information.
• Towards the end of the introduction the author should provide the aims and the objectives of the review- What is the question asked?
• The length of the Introduction should be between 10% – 15% of the whole NLR (i.e. if the whole article is 4000 words then the Introduction must be between 400-600 words).
Methods (Literature Search Strategy) (100-200 words)
• The length of the Methods (literature search strategy) should be between 2.5% – 5% of the whole NLR (i.e. if the whole article is 4000 words then the Methods must be between 100-200 words).
• In this section students should be describing:
The key concepts used to carry out their literature search
The keywords for each concept
How Boolean operators (e.g. use AND, OR) were used
Which language was selected for the retrieved resources (e.g. only English
language)
Which databases were used (e.g. Pubmed, EBSCO etc)
The timeframe used (it is highly recommended that most resources used should
be between 2015-currently).
Body (2800-3400 words)
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• The length of the Body of the review article should be between 70-85% of the whole NLR (i.e. if the whole article is 4000 words then the Body must be between 2800-3400 words).
-Disease Presentation
Describe how the chronic condition presents in the patient. Provide
symptoms and signs.
-Diagnosis
Describe how the chronic condition is diagnosed in a patient.
Provide information regarding investigations commonly carried out to
confirm or exclude diagnosis.
-Epidemiology
Provide information on the incidence and prevalence of the condition and,
if applicable, mortality rate and survival rates.
Information from the World Health Organisation (or any other source of
global health statistics) http://www.who.int/ should be included, if
available.
Additional sites for statistics include:
UK National Statistics: https://www.ons.gov.uk Center for Disease Control and Prevention:
https:///www.cdc.gov/DataStatistics
-Pathophysiology
Describe the functional changes associated with the chronic condition and
any current research carried out to discover the pathophysiological
mechanisms involved.
-Management
Outline the treatment(s) recommended for the condition
Use e.g. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
(www.nice.org.uk)
You can also use National Guideline Clearing House www.guideline.gov
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Report the evidence-base on the effectiveness of the recommended treatment(s)
Discuss any current research carried out to develop new forms of management. For example, you can look at websites which list current clinical trials and identify some of the main lines of management relevant to the chronic condition investigated.
-Prevention
Discuss Primary, Secondary and Tertiary prevention of the chronic
condition.
Do patients have access to patient information leaflets related to the
condition and how does this vary across different countries?
For example, in the UK disease specific patient support groups provide
information e.g. British Heart Foundation, Macmillan UK, Diabetes UK.
If no patient information is found please state this finding.
Discuss any current research carried out on prevention of the chronic
condition and patient education.
Conclusions (200-400 words)
• The Conclusions should answer the questions raised at the Introduction.
• It should describe the implications of the findings of the current review and identify
remaining unresolved questions.
• The tense should be present.
• Citations should not be provided – this is not the place to introduce new or specific
information.
• The length of the Conclusions should be between 5-10% of the whole review article (i.e. if the whole article is 4000 words then the Conclusions must be between 200-400 words).
