Systematic Reviews and Other Evidence Synthesis Types Guide

Narrative/literature review – encompasses reviews of published materials that provide an examination of recent or current literature on a broad and/or wide range of subjects.

A narrative, or expert, review is generally based on an author’s subjective selection of published articles addressing a specific question with a summary of findings and an implicit conclusion. Unlike other types of evidence synthesis/systematic review, a narrative review lacks methodology and does not follow specific guidelines. It provides a broad overview of a selected topic and may include the author’s expert opinions. Narrative reviews usually are not identified in the hierarchies of evidence – they are viewed to be among the lowest levels of evidence (Conner 2014).

Featured Journal Articles

• Conner, B. T. (2014). Demystifying literature reviews. American Nurse Today, 9(1), 13-14.
• Daldrup-Link, H. E. (2018). Writing a review article - Are you making these mistakes? Nanotheranostics, 2(2), 197-200. https://doi.org/10.7150/ntno.24793
• Parker, R., & Sikora, L. (2022). Literature Reviews: Key Considerations and Tips From Knowledge Synthesis Librarians. Journal of Graduate Medical Education, 14(1), 32-35. https://doi.org/10.4300/jgme-d-21-01114.1
• Pautasso, M. (2013). Ten simple rules for writing a literature review. PLoS Computational Biology, 9(7), e1003149. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003149
• Sukhera, J. (2022). Narrative Reviews: Flexible, Rigorous, and Practical. Journal of Graduate Medical Education, 14(4), 414-417. https://doi.org/10.4300/jgme-d-22-00480.1