Creating a is a helpful way to keep track of your sources. Including title, author, topic(s), methods and findings, as well as direct quotes that you think might be meaningful to your literature review would be helpful. Also, it would be important to note how you retrieved your source so that, theoretically, other researchers could replicate your literature review (Randolph, 2009). |
Organizing your Literature Review:
Outline your literature review- how do you want it organized? You are “synthesizing” the literature as your purpose here. What structure works best for your topic and study? The most common formats are (Randolph, 2009; Onwuegbuzie et al., 2012):
Be sure to structure your literature review so it makes sense to you. You can organize it thematically, chronologically, methodically or any other way that works for you and your understanding of the topic. |
Let’s talk about synthesis.
A literature review is not only a review of the empirical research, but it is also evaluation and synthesis of the research. Boote and Beile (2005) have created a five- category list for evaluating a literature review. The categories are coverage, synthesis, methodology, significance, and rhetoric .
Synthesis is difficult - you need to articulate what this literature means for your research and/or how does the literature inform the purpose, impact, methodology of your study? Rather than summarizing, the idea behind synthesis is taking the information you have discussed and drawing your own conclusions, making connections between the literature and your study.
Boote, D. N., & Beile, P. (2005). Scholars before researchers: On the centrality of the dissertation literature review in research preparation. Educational Researcher, 34 (6), 3-15. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3699805
Denney, A. S., & Tewksbury, R. (2013). How to write a literature review. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 24 (2), 218-234. https://doi-org.kean.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/10511253.2012.730617
Garrard, J. (2009). Health sciences literature review made easy: The matrix method. Jones and Bartlett.
Onwuegbuzie, A. J., Leech, N. L., & Collins, K. M. (2012). Qualitative analysis techniques for the review of the literature. Qualitative Report, 17( 28), 1-28.
Randolph, J. (2009). A guide to writing the dissertation literature review. Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation, 14 (1), 13.
Wakefield, A. (2015). Synthesising the literature as part of a literature review. Nursing Standard, 29 (29), 44-51. https://doi.org/10.7748/ns.29.29.44.e8957
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Marco pautasso.
1 Centre for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology (CEFE), CNRS, Montpellier, France
2 Centre for Biodiversity Synthesis and Analysis (CESAB), FRB, Aix-en-Provence, France
Literature reviews are in great demand in most scientific fields. Their need stems from the ever-increasing output of scientific publications [1] . For example, compared to 1991, in 2008 three, eight, and forty times more papers were indexed in Web of Science on malaria, obesity, and biodiversity, respectively [2] . Given such mountains of papers, scientists cannot be expected to examine in detail every single new paper relevant to their interests [3] . Thus, it is both advantageous and necessary to rely on regular summaries of the recent literature. Although recognition for scientists mainly comes from primary research, timely literature reviews can lead to new synthetic insights and are often widely read [4] . For such summaries to be useful, however, they need to be compiled in a professional way [5] .
When starting from scratch, reviewing the literature can require a titanic amount of work. That is why researchers who have spent their career working on a certain research issue are in a perfect position to review that literature. Some graduate schools are now offering courses in reviewing the literature, given that most research students start their project by producing an overview of what has already been done on their research issue [6] . However, it is likely that most scientists have not thought in detail about how to approach and carry out a literature review.
Reviewing the literature requires the ability to juggle multiple tasks, from finding and evaluating relevant material to synthesising information from various sources, from critical thinking to paraphrasing, evaluating, and citation skills [7] . In this contribution, I share ten simple rules I learned working on about 25 literature reviews as a PhD and postdoctoral student. Ideas and insights also come from discussions with coauthors and colleagues, as well as feedback from reviewers and editors.
How to choose which topic to review? There are so many issues in contemporary science that you could spend a lifetime of attending conferences and reading the literature just pondering what to review. On the one hand, if you take several years to choose, several other people may have had the same idea in the meantime. On the other hand, only a well-considered topic is likely to lead to a brilliant literature review [8] . The topic must at least be:
Ideas for potential reviews may come from papers providing lists of key research questions to be answered [9] , but also from serendipitous moments during desultory reading and discussions. In addition to choosing your topic, you should also select a target audience. In many cases, the topic (e.g., web services in computational biology) will automatically define an audience (e.g., computational biologists), but that same topic may also be of interest to neighbouring fields (e.g., computer science, biology, etc.).
After having chosen your topic and audience, start by checking the literature and downloading relevant papers. Five pieces of advice here:
The chances are high that someone will already have published a literature review ( Figure 1 ), if not exactly on the issue you are planning to tackle, at least on a related topic. If there are already a few or several reviews of the literature on your issue, my advice is not to give up, but to carry on with your own literature review,
The bottom-right situation (many literature reviews but few research papers) is not just a theoretical situation; it applies, for example, to the study of the impacts of climate change on plant diseases, where there appear to be more literature reviews than research studies [33] .
When searching the literature for pertinent papers and reviews, the usual rules apply:
If you read the papers first, and only afterwards start writing the review, you will need a very good memory to remember who wrote what, and what your impressions and associations were while reading each single paper. My advice is, while reading, to start writing down interesting pieces of information, insights about how to organize the review, and thoughts on what to write. This way, by the time you have read the literature you selected, you will already have a rough draft of the review.
Of course, this draft will still need much rewriting, restructuring, and rethinking to obtain a text with a coherent argument [11] , but you will have avoided the danger posed by staring at a blank document. Be careful when taking notes to use quotation marks if you are provisionally copying verbatim from the literature. It is advisable then to reformulate such quotes with your own words in the final draft. It is important to be careful in noting the references already at this stage, so as to avoid misattributions. Using referencing software from the very beginning of your endeavour will save you time.
After having taken notes while reading the literature, you will have a rough idea of the amount of material available for the review. This is probably a good time to decide whether to go for a mini- or a full review. Some journals are now favouring the publication of rather short reviews focusing on the last few years, with a limit on the number of words and citations. A mini-review is not necessarily a minor review: it may well attract more attention from busy readers, although it will inevitably simplify some issues and leave out some relevant material due to space limitations. A full review will have the advantage of more freedom to cover in detail the complexities of a particular scientific development, but may then be left in the pile of the very important papers “to be read” by readers with little time to spare for major monographs.
There is probably a continuum between mini- and full reviews. The same point applies to the dichotomy of descriptive vs. integrative reviews. While descriptive reviews focus on the methodology, findings, and interpretation of each reviewed study, integrative reviews attempt to find common ideas and concepts from the reviewed material [12] . A similar distinction exists between narrative and systematic reviews: while narrative reviews are qualitative, systematic reviews attempt to test a hypothesis based on the published evidence, which is gathered using a predefined protocol to reduce bias [13] , [14] . When systematic reviews analyse quantitative results in a quantitative way, they become meta-analyses. The choice between different review types will have to be made on a case-by-case basis, depending not just on the nature of the material found and the preferences of the target journal(s), but also on the time available to write the review and the number of coauthors [15] .
Whether your plan is to write a mini- or a full review, it is good advice to keep it focused 16 , 17 . Including material just for the sake of it can easily lead to reviews that are trying to do too many things at once. The need to keep a review focused can be problematic for interdisciplinary reviews, where the aim is to bridge the gap between fields [18] . If you are writing a review on, for example, how epidemiological approaches are used in modelling the spread of ideas, you may be inclined to include material from both parent fields, epidemiology and the study of cultural diffusion. This may be necessary to some extent, but in this case a focused review would only deal in detail with those studies at the interface between epidemiology and the spread of ideas.
While focus is an important feature of a successful review, this requirement has to be balanced with the need to make the review relevant to a broad audience. This square may be circled by discussing the wider implications of the reviewed topic for other disciplines.
Reviewing the literature is not stamp collecting. A good review does not just summarize the literature, but discusses it critically, identifies methodological problems, and points out research gaps [19] . After having read a review of the literature, a reader should have a rough idea of:
It is challenging to achieve a successful review on all these fronts. A solution can be to involve a set of complementary coauthors: some people are excellent at mapping what has been achieved, some others are very good at identifying dark clouds on the horizon, and some have instead a knack at predicting where solutions are going to come from. If your journal club has exactly this sort of team, then you should definitely write a review of the literature! In addition to critical thinking, a literature review needs consistency, for example in the choice of passive vs. active voice and present vs. past tense.
Like a well-baked cake, a good review has a number of telling features: it is worth the reader's time, timely, systematic, well written, focused, and critical. It also needs a good structure. With reviews, the usual subdivision of research papers into introduction, methods, results, and discussion does not work or is rarely used. However, a general introduction of the context and, toward the end, a recapitulation of the main points covered and take-home messages make sense also in the case of reviews. For systematic reviews, there is a trend towards including information about how the literature was searched (database, keywords, time limits) [20] .
How can you organize the flow of the main body of the review so that the reader will be drawn into and guided through it? It is generally helpful to draw a conceptual scheme of the review, e.g., with mind-mapping techniques. Such diagrams can help recognize a logical way to order and link the various sections of a review [21] . This is the case not just at the writing stage, but also for readers if the diagram is included in the review as a figure. A careful selection of diagrams and figures relevant to the reviewed topic can be very helpful to structure the text too [22] .
Reviews of the literature are normally peer-reviewed in the same way as research papers, and rightly so [23] . As a rule, incorporating feedback from reviewers greatly helps improve a review draft. Having read the review with a fresh mind, reviewers may spot inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and ambiguities that had not been noticed by the writers due to rereading the typescript too many times. It is however advisable to reread the draft one more time before submission, as a last-minute correction of typos, leaps, and muddled sentences may enable the reviewers to focus on providing advice on the content rather than the form.
Feedback is vital to writing a good review, and should be sought from a variety of colleagues, so as to obtain a diversity of views on the draft. This may lead in some cases to conflicting views on the merits of the paper, and on how to improve it, but such a situation is better than the absence of feedback. A diversity of feedback perspectives on a literature review can help identify where the consensus view stands in the landscape of the current scientific understanding of an issue [24] .
In many cases, reviewers of the literature will have published studies relevant to the review they are writing. This could create a conflict of interest: how can reviewers report objectively on their own work [25] ? Some scientists may be overly enthusiastic about what they have published, and thus risk giving too much importance to their own findings in the review. However, bias could also occur in the other direction: some scientists may be unduly dismissive of their own achievements, so that they will tend to downplay their contribution (if any) to a field when reviewing it.
In general, a review of the literature should neither be a public relations brochure nor an exercise in competitive self-denial. If a reviewer is up to the job of producing a well-organized and methodical review, which flows well and provides a service to the readership, then it should be possible to be objective in reviewing one's own relevant findings. In reviews written by multiple authors, this may be achieved by assigning the review of the results of a coauthor to different coauthors.
Given the progressive acceleration in the publication of scientific papers, today's reviews of the literature need awareness not just of the overall direction and achievements of a field of inquiry, but also of the latest studies, so as not to become out-of-date before they have been published. Ideally, a literature review should not identify as a major research gap an issue that has just been addressed in a series of papers in press (the same applies, of course, to older, overlooked studies (“sleeping beauties” [26] )). This implies that literature reviewers would do well to keep an eye on electronic lists of papers in press, given that it can take months before these appear in scientific databases. Some reviews declare that they have scanned the literature up to a certain point in time, but given that peer review can be a rather lengthy process, a full search for newly appeared literature at the revision stage may be worthwhile. Assessing the contribution of papers that have just appeared is particularly challenging, because there is little perspective with which to gauge their significance and impact on further research and society.
Inevitably, new papers on the reviewed topic (including independently written literature reviews) will appear from all quarters after the review has been published, so that there may soon be the need for an updated review. But this is the nature of science [27] – [32] . I wish everybody good luck with writing a review of the literature.
Many thanks to M. Barbosa, K. Dehnen-Schmutz, T. Döring, D. Fontaneto, M. Garbelotto, O. Holdenrieder, M. Jeger, D. Lonsdale, A. MacLeod, P. Mills, M. Moslonka-Lefebvre, G. Stancanelli, P. Weisberg, and X. Xu for insights and discussions, and to P. Bourne, T. Matoni, and D. Smith for helpful comments on a previous draft.
This work was funded by the French Foundation for Research on Biodiversity (FRB) through its Centre for Synthesis and Analysis of Biodiversity data (CESAB), as part of the NETSEED research project. The funders had no role in the preparation of the manuscript.
A literature review is a critical analysis and synthesis of existing research on a particular topic. It provides an overview of the current state of knowledge, identifies gaps, and highlights key findings in the literature. 1 The purpose of a literature review is to situate your own research within the context of existing scholarship, demonstrating your understanding of the topic and showing how your work contributes to the ongoing conversation in the field. Learning how to write a literature review is a critical tool for successful research. Your ability to summarize and synthesize prior research pertaining to a certain topic demonstrates your grasp on the topic of study, and assists in the learning process.
A well-conducted literature review demonstrates the researcher’s familiarity with the existing literature, establishes the context for their own research, and contributes to scholarly conversations on the topic. One of the purposes of a literature review is also to help researchers avoid duplicating previous work and ensure that their research is informed by and builds upon the existing body of knowledge.
A literature review serves several important purposes within academic and research contexts. Here are some key objectives and functions of a literature review: 2
1. Contextualizing the Research Problem: The literature review provides a background and context for the research problem under investigation. It helps to situate the study within the existing body of knowledge.
2. Identifying Gaps in Knowledge: By identifying gaps, contradictions, or areas requiring further research, the researcher can shape the research question and justify the significance of the study. This is crucial for ensuring that the new research contributes something novel to the field.
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3. Understanding Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks: Literature reviews help researchers gain an understanding of the theoretical and conceptual frameworks used in previous studies. This aids in the development of a theoretical framework for the current research.
4. Providing Methodological Insights: Another purpose of literature reviews is that it allows researchers to learn about the methodologies employed in previous studies. This can help in choosing appropriate research methods for the current study and avoiding pitfalls that others may have encountered.
5. Establishing Credibility: A well-conducted literature review demonstrates the researcher’s familiarity with existing scholarship, establishing their credibility and expertise in the field. It also helps in building a solid foundation for the new research.
6. Informing Hypotheses or Research Questions: The literature review guides the formulation of hypotheses or research questions by highlighting relevant findings and areas of uncertainty in existing literature.
Let’s delve deeper with a literature review example: Let’s say your literature review is about the impact of climate change on biodiversity. You might format your literature review into sections such as the effects of climate change on habitat loss and species extinction, phenological changes, and marine biodiversity. Each section would then summarize and analyze relevant studies in those areas, highlighting key findings and identifying gaps in the research. The review would conclude by emphasizing the need for further research on specific aspects of the relationship between climate change and biodiversity. The following literature review template provides a glimpse into the recommended literature review structure and content, demonstrating how research findings are organized around specific themes within a broader topic.
Climate change is a global phenomenon with far-reaching consequences, including significant impacts on biodiversity. This literature review synthesizes key findings from various studies:
Climate change-induced alterations in temperature and precipitation patterns contribute to habitat loss, affecting numerous species (Thomas et al., 2004). The review discusses how these changes increase the risk of extinction, particularly for species with specific habitat requirements.
Observations of range shifts and changes in the timing of biological events (phenology) are documented in response to changing climatic conditions (Parmesan & Yohe, 2003). These shifts affect ecosystems and may lead to mismatches between species and their resources.
The review explores the impact of climate change on marine biodiversity, emphasizing ocean acidification’s threat to coral reefs (Hoegh-Guldberg et al., 2007). Changes in pH levels negatively affect coral calcification, disrupting the delicate balance of marine ecosystems.
Recognizing the urgency of the situation, the literature review discusses various adaptive strategies adopted by species and conservation efforts aimed at mitigating the impacts of climate change on biodiversity (Hannah et al., 2007). It emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary approaches for effective conservation planning.
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Writing a literature review involves summarizing and synthesizing existing research on a particular topic. A good literature review format should include the following elements.
Introduction: The introduction sets the stage for your literature review, providing context and introducing the main focus of your review.
Body: The body of the literature review is where you provide a comprehensive analysis of existing literature, grouping studies based on themes, methodologies, or other relevant criteria.
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Conclusion: The conclusion of your literature review should summarize the main findings, highlight the contributions of the review, and suggest avenues for future research.
Conducting a literature review is an essential step in research that involves reviewing and analyzing existing literature on a specific topic. It’s important to know how to do a literature review effectively, so here are the steps to follow: 1
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A literature review is a critical and comprehensive analysis of existing literature (published and unpublished works) on a specific topic or research question and provides a synthesis of the current state of knowledge in a particular field. A well-conducted literature review is crucial for researchers to build upon existing knowledge, avoid duplication of efforts, and contribute to the advancement of their field. It also helps researchers situate their work within a broader context and facilitates the development of a sound theoretical and conceptual framework for their studies.
Literature review is a crucial component of research writing, providing a solid background for a research paper’s investigation. The aim is to keep professionals up to date by providing an understanding of ongoing developments within a specific field, including research methods, and experimental techniques used in that field, and present that knowledge in the form of a written report. Also, the depth and breadth of the literature review emphasizes the credibility of the scholar in his or her field.
Before writing a literature review, it’s essential to undertake several preparatory steps to ensure that your review is well-researched, organized, and focused. This includes choosing a topic of general interest to you and doing exploratory research on that topic, writing an annotated bibliography, and noting major points, especially those that relate to the position you have taken on the topic.
Literature reviews and academic research papers are essential components of scholarly work but serve different purposes within the academic realm. 3 A literature review aims to provide a foundation for understanding the current state of research on a particular topic, identify gaps or controversies, and lay the groundwork for future research. Therefore, it draws heavily from existing academic sources, including books, journal articles, and other scholarly publications. In contrast, an academic research paper aims to present new knowledge, contribute to the academic discourse, and advance the understanding of a specific research question. Therefore, it involves a mix of existing literature (in the introduction and literature review sections) and original data or findings obtained through research methods.
Literature reviews are essential components of academic and research papers, and various strategies can be employed to conduct them effectively. If you want to know how to write a literature review for a research paper, here are four common approaches that are often used by researchers. Chronological Review: This strategy involves organizing the literature based on the chronological order of publication. It helps to trace the development of a topic over time, showing how ideas, theories, and research have evolved. Thematic Review: Thematic reviews focus on identifying and analyzing themes or topics that cut across different studies. Instead of organizing the literature chronologically, it is grouped by key themes or concepts, allowing for a comprehensive exploration of various aspects of the topic. Methodological Review: This strategy involves organizing the literature based on the research methods employed in different studies. It helps to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of various methodologies and allows the reader to evaluate the reliability and validity of the research findings. Theoretical Review: A theoretical review examines the literature based on the theoretical frameworks used in different studies. This approach helps to identify the key theories that have been applied to the topic and assess their contributions to the understanding of the subject. It’s important to note that these strategies are not mutually exclusive, and a literature review may combine elements of more than one approach. The choice of strategy depends on the research question, the nature of the literature available, and the goals of the review. Additionally, other strategies, such as integrative reviews or systematic reviews, may be employed depending on the specific requirements of the research.
The literature review format can vary depending on the specific publication guidelines. However, there are some common elements and structures that are often followed. Here is a general guideline for the format of a literature review: Introduction: Provide an overview of the topic. Define the scope and purpose of the literature review. State the research question or objective. Body: Organize the literature by themes, concepts, or chronology. Critically analyze and evaluate each source. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the studies. Highlight any methodological limitations or biases. Identify patterns, connections, or contradictions in the existing research. Conclusion: Summarize the key points discussed in the literature review. Highlight the research gap. Address the research question or objective stated in the introduction. Highlight the contributions of the review and suggest directions for future research.
Both annotated bibliographies and literature reviews involve the examination of scholarly sources. While annotated bibliographies focus on individual sources with brief annotations, literature reviews provide a more in-depth, integrated, and comprehensive analysis of existing literature on a specific topic. The key differences are as follows:
Annotated Bibliography | Literature Review | |
Purpose | List of citations of books, articles, and other sources with a brief description (annotation) of each source. | Comprehensive and critical analysis of existing literature on a specific topic. |
Focus | Summary and evaluation of each source, including its relevance, methodology, and key findings. | Provides an overview of the current state of knowledge on a particular subject and identifies gaps, trends, and patterns in existing literature. |
Structure | Each citation is followed by a concise paragraph (annotation) that describes the source’s content, methodology, and its contribution to the topic. | The literature review is organized thematically or chronologically and involves a synthesis of the findings from different sources to build a narrative or argument. |
Length | Typically 100-200 words | Length of literature review ranges from a few pages to several chapters |
Independence | Each source is treated separately, with less emphasis on synthesizing the information across sources. | The writer synthesizes information from multiple sources to present a cohesive overview of the topic. |
References
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When seeking information for a literature review or for any purpose, it helps to understand information-seeking as a process that you can follow. 5 Each of the six (6) steps has its own section in this web page with more detail. Do (and re-do) the following six steps:
1. Define your topic. The first step is defining your task -- choosing a topic and noting the questions you have about the topic. This will provide a focus that guides your strategy in step II and will provide potential words to use in searches in step III.
2. Develop a strategy. Strategy involves figuring out where the information might be and identifying the best tools for finding those types of sources. The strategy section identifies specific types of research databases to use for specific purposes.
3. Locate the information . In this step, you implement the strategy developed in II in order to actually locate specific articles, books, technical reports, etc.
4. Use and Evaluate the information. Having located relevant and useful material, in step IV you read and analyze the items to determine whether they have value for your project and credibility as sources.
5. Synthesize. In step V, you will make sense of what you've learned and demonstrate your knowledge. You will thoroughly understand, organize and integrate the information --become knowledgeable-- so that you are able to use your own words to support and explain your research project and its relationship to existing research by others.
6. Evaluate your work. At every step along the way, you should evaluate your work. However, this final step is a last check to make sure your work is complete and of high quality.
Continue below to begin working through the process.
5. Eisenberg, M. B., & Berkowitz, R. E. (1990). Information Problem-Solving: the Big Six Skills Approach to Library & Information Skills Instruction . Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing.
I. Define your topic
A. Many students have difficulty selecting a topic. You want to find a topic you find interesting and will enjoy learning more about.
B. Students often select a topic that is too broad. You may have a broad topic in mind initially and will need to narrow it.
1. To help narrow a broad topic :
a. Brainstorm.
1). Try this technique for brainstorming to narrow your focus.
a) Step 1. Write down your broad topic.
b) Step 2. Write down a "specific kind" or "specific aspect" of the topic you identified in step 1.
c) Step 3. Write down an aspect --such as an attribute or behavior-- of the "specific kind" you identified in step 2.
d) Step 4. Continue to add levels of specificity as needed to get to a focus that is manageable. However, you may want to begin researching the literature before narrowing further to give yourself the opportunity to explore what others are doing and how that might impact the direction that you take for your own research.
2) Three examples of using the narrowing technique. These examples start with very, very broad topics, so the topic at step 3 or 4 in these examples would be used for a preliminary search in the literature in order to identify a more specific focus. Greater specificity than level 3 or 4 will ultimately be necessary for developing a specific research question. And we may discover in our preliminary research that we need to alter the direction that we originally were taking.
a) Example 1.
Step 1. information security
Step 2. protocols
Step 3. handshake protocol
Brainstorming has brought us to focus on the handshake protocol.
b) Example 2.
Step 1. information security
Step 2. single sign-on authentication
Step 3. analyzing
Step 4. methods
Brainstorming has brought us to focus on methods for analyzing the security of single sign-on authentication
c) Example 3. The diagram below is an example using the broad topic of "software" to show two potential ways to begin to narrow the topic.
C. Once you have completed the brainstorming process and your topic is more focused, you can do preliminary research to help you identify a specific research question .
1) Examine overview sources such as subject-specific encyclopedias and textbooks that are likely to break down your specific topic into sub-topics and to highlight core issues that could serve as possible research questions. [See section II. below on developing a strategy to learn how to find these encyclopedias]
2). Search the broad topic in a research database that includes scholarly journals and professional magazines (to find technical and scholarly articles) and scan recent article titles for ideas. [See section II. below on developing a strategy to learn how to find trade and scholarly journal articles]
D. Once you have identified a research question or questions, ask yourself what you need to know to answer the questions. For example,
1. What new knowledge do I need to gain?
2. What has already been answered by prior research of other scholars?
E. Use the answers to the questions in C. to identify what words to use to describe the topic when you are doing searches.
1. Identify key words
a. For example , if you are investigating "security audits in banking", key terms to combine in your searches would be: security, audits, banking.
2. Create a list of alternative ways of referring to a key word or phrase
a.For example , "information assurance" may be referred to in various ways such as: "information assurance," "information security," and "computer security."
b. Use these alternatives when doing searches.
3. As you are searching, pay attention to how others are writing about the topic and add new words or phrases to your searches if appropriate.
II. Develop a strategy for finding the information.
A. Start by considering what types of source might contain the information you need . Do you need a dictionary for definitions? a directory for an address? the history of a concept or technique that might be in a book or specialized encyclopedia? today's tech news in an online tech magazine or newspaper? current research in a journal article? background information that might be in a specialized encyclopedia? data or statistics from a specific organization or website? Note that you will typically have online access to these source types.
B. This section provides a description of some of the common types of information needed for research.
1. For technical and business analysis , look for articles in technical and trade magazines . These articles are written by information technology professionals to help other IT professionals do their jobs better. Content might include news on new developments in hardware or software, techniques, tools, and practical advice. Technical journals are also likely to have product ads relevant to information technology workers and to have job ads. Examples iof technical magazines include Network Computing and IEEE Spectrum .
2. To read original research studies , look for articles in scholarly journals and conference proceedings . They will provide articles written by information technology professionals who are reporting original research; that is, research that has been done by the authors and is being reported for the first time. The audience for original research articles is other information technology scholars and professionals. Examples of scholarly journals include Journal of Applied Security Research , Journal of Management Information Systems , IEEE Transactions on Computers , and ACM Transactions on Information and System Security .
3. For original research being reported to funding agencies , look for technical reports on agency websites. Technical reports are researcher reports to funding agencies about progress on or completion of research funded by the agency.
4. For in-depth, comprehensive information on a topic , look for book-length volumes . All chapters in the book might be written by the same author(s) or might be a collection of separate papers written by different authors.
5. To learn about an unfamiliar topic , use textbooks , specialized encyclopedias and handbooks to get get overviews of topics, history/background, and key issues explained.
6. For instructions for hardware, software, networking, etc., look for manuals that provide step-by-step instructions.
7. For technical details about inventions (devices, instruments, machines), look for patent documents .
C. NOTE - In order to search for and find original research studies, it will help if you understand how information is produced, packaged and communicated within your profession. This is explained in the tab "Research Communication: Graphic."
III. Locate the information
A. Use search tools designed to find the sources you want. Types of sources were described in section II. above.
Always feel free to Ask a librarian for assistance when you have questions about where and how locate the information you need.
B. Evaluate the search results (no matter where you find the information)
1. Evaluate the items you find using at least these 5 criteria:
a. accuracy -- is the information reliable and error free?
1) Is there an editor or someone who verifies/checks the information?
2) Is there adequate documentation: bibliography, footnotes, credits?
3) Are the conclusions justified by the information presented?
b. authority -- is the source of the information reputable?
1) How did you find the source of information: an index to edited/peer-reviewed material, in a bibliography from a published article, etc.?
2) What type of source is it: sensationalistic, popular, scholarly?
c. objectivity -- does the information show bias?
1) What is the purpose of the information: to inform, persuade, explain, sway opinion, advertise?
2) Does the source show political or cultural biases?
d. currency -- is the information current? does it cover the time period you need?
e. coverage -- does it provide the evidence or information you need?
2. Is the search producing the material you need? -- the right content? the right quality? right time period? right geographical location? etc. If not, are you using
a. the right sources?
b. the right tools to get to the sources?
c. are you using the right words to describe the topic?
3. Have you discovered additional terms that should be searched? If so, search those terms.
4. Have you discovered additional questions you need to answer? If so, return to section A above to begin to answer new questions.
IV. Use the information.
A. Read, hear or view the source
1. Evaluate: Does the material answer your question(s)? -- right content? If not, return to B.
2. Evaluate: Is the material appropriate? -- right quality? If not, return to B.
B. Extract the information from the source : copy/download information, take notes, record citation, keep track of items using a citation manager.
1. Note taking (these steps will help you when you begin to write your thesis and/or document your project.):
a. Write the keywords you use in your searches to avoid duplicating previous searches if you return to search a research database again. Keeping track of keywords used will also save you time if your search is interrupted or you need return and do the search again for some other reason. It will help you remember which search terms worked successfully in which databases
b. Write the citations or record the information needed to cite each article/document you plan to read and use, or make sure that any saved a copy of the article includes all the information needed to cite it. Some article pdf files may not include all of the information needed to cite, and it's a waste of your valuable time to have to go back to search and find the items again in order to be able to cite them. Using citation management software such as EndNote will help keep track of citations and help create bibliographies for your research papers.
c. Write a summary of each article you read and/or why you want to use it.
V. Synthesize.
A. Organize and integrate information from multiple sources
B. Present the information (create report, speech, etc. that communicates)
C. Cite material using the style required by your professor or by the venue (conference, publication, etc.). For help with citation styles, see Guide to Citing Sources . A link to the citing guide is also available in the "Get Help" section on the left side of the Library home page
VI. Evaluate the paper, speech, or whatever you are using to communicate your research.
A. Is it effective?
B. Does it meet the requirements?
C. Ask another student or colleague to provide constructive criticism of your paper/project.
Saul McLeod, PhD
Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology
BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester
Saul McLeod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.
Learn about our Editorial Process
Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc
Associate Editor for Simply Psychology
BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education
Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.
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A scoping review is a type of research synthesis that maps the existing literature on a broad topic to identify key concepts, research gaps, and types of evidence.
This mapping exercise involves systematically searching for, identifying, and charting relevant literature to understand its characteristics, such as the volume of research, types of studies conducted, key concepts addressed, and prevalent research gaps.
Unlike systematic reviews, which aim to answer specific questions, scoping reviews are exploratory and often used to assess the extent of available evidence and inform future research directions. They involve comprehensive searches and data extraction but do not typically include a detailed synthesis of findings or a critical appraisal of study quality.
Scoping reviews can be used as a preliminary step to a systematic review , helping to identify the types of evidence available, potential research questions, and relevant inclusion criteria.
They can save time and resources by identifying potential challenges or limitations before embarking on a full systematic review.
Scoping reviews can help clarify key concepts/definitions in the literature. If a research area has inconsistent terminology or definitions, a scoping review can map out how different concepts are used and potentially propose a unified understanding. This can help refine the focus and scope of a subsequent systematic review.
Scoping reviews help identify areas needing further research, whereas systematic reviews aim to draw conclusions about intervention effectiveness.
Methodological guidelines aim to improve the consistency and transparency of scoping reviews, enabling researchers to synthesize evidence effectively.
Arksey and O’Malley (2005) | Levac et al. (2010) | Joanna Briggs Institute |
---|---|---|
6 stages, including optional consultation; most flexible approach | 6 stages with more detailed guidance; moderate flexibility | More prescriptive approach with additional elements; most structured |
Broad research question | Clearly articulated research question | Clearly defined research question with concept, population, and context |
Study selection process not specified | Recommends two reviewers for study selection | Provides detailed guidance on study selection process |
Basic data charting | More comprehensive data extraction | Detailed guidance on data extraction with specific tools |
Basic summary of findings | Numeric summary and qualitative thematic analysis | Introduces evidence mapping for analysis |
Quality assessment not included | Quality assessment not emphasized | Introduces potential for quality appraisal |
Optional stakeholder consultation | Recommended stakeholder consultation | Stakeholder consultation as an integral part of the process |
Provides basic framework | Offers enhanced detail on methodology | Provides most detailed guidance on conducting scoping reviews |
A well-defined objective and a set of aligned research questions are crucial for a scoping review’s coherence and direction.
They guide the subsequent steps of the review process, including determining the inclusion and exclusion criteria, developing a search strategy, and guiding data extraction and analysis.
This stage involves a thoughtful and iterative process to ensure that the review’s aims and questions are explicitly stated and closely intertwined.
This step outlines the overarching goals of the scoping review. It explains the rationale behind conducting the review and what the reviewers aim to achieve.
The objective statement should succinctly capture the essence of the review and provide a clear understanding of its purpose.
For instance, a scoping review’s objective might be to map the existing literature on a particular topic and identify knowledge gaps.
“Parents, in particular, greatly influence participation at school, at home and in the community. They undertake many actions to improve their children’s participation in daily life. Understanding the actions of parents and also their challenges and needs will contribute to how society can support these parents and thereby enable the participation of children with physical disabilities. Pediatric rehabilitation, aiming for optimal participation, could benefit from this understanding to improve Family-centered services (FCS)… However, it is unclear what kind of information is available in literature about what parents live through, do, and what kind of problems and needs they have in supporting their child’s participation? For these reasons, a scoping review was conducted in order to systematically map the research done in this area, as well as to identify any existing gaps in knowledge”
Piškur, B., Beurskens, A. J., Jongmans, M. J., Ketelaar, M., Norton, M., Frings, C. A., … & Smeets, R. J. (2012). Parents’ actions, challenges, and needs while enabling participation of children with a physical disability: a scoping review. BMC pediatrics , 12 , 1-13.
The research question(s) stem from the objectives and provide a focused roadmap for the review. These questions should be answerable through the scoping review process. The research question(s) should be clear, concise, and directly relevant to the overall objectives.
Using Frameworks: While not mandatory, frameworks can be helpful tools to guide the development of objectives and research questions. Frameworks like PCC (Population, Concept, Context).
How do cultural beliefs and practices ( C -context) influence the ways in which parents ( P -parents of children with physical disabilities) perceive and address ( C -concept) their children’s physical disabilities?
What are the barriers and facilitators ( C -concept) to mental health service utilization ( C -concept) among veterans ( P -population) experiencing homelessness ( C -context)?
This scoping review aims to summarize what is known in the African scientific literature ( C -context) among cisgender persons ( P ) about a) individual experiences of GBS within health care settings ( C -concept) and b) associations between GBS experiences and health care-related outcomes ( C -concept).
What are the main theoretical and methodological characteristics ( C -concept) of the current literature ( C -context) in the area of stigma and hearing loss and stigma and hearing aids in the elderly population ( P -older adults with acquired hearing impairment), and how should future research proceed in expanding this important field of enquiry?
A research protocol is a detailed plan that outlines the methodology to be employed throughout the review process, detailing steps like documenting results, outlining search strategy, and stating the review’s objective
The protocol should be created a priori (before starting the review) to ensure transparency and reproducibility.
While not mandatory, registering your protocol is highly recommended, e.g. FigShare and Open Science Framework (OSF).
Some journals, such as the Journal of Advanced Nursing , Systematic Reviews , BMC Medical Research Methodology , BMJ Open , and JBI Evidence Synthesis , accept scoping review protocols for publication.
It’s important to note that PROSPERO, the international prospective register of systematic reviews, does not currently accept scoping review protocols for registration.
Registering a scoping review protocol is highly recommended, even if not mandatory, as it promotes transparency, reduces duplication of effort, and helps to prevent publication bias
“Our protocol was drafted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis Protocols (PRISMAP…), which was revised by the research team and members of Health Canada, and was disseminated through our programme’s Twitter account (@KT-Canada) and newsletter to solicit additional feedback. The final protocol was registered prospectively with the Open Science Framework on 6 September 2016 ( https://osf.io/kv9hu/ ).”
Tricco, A. C., Zarin, W., Lillie, E., Pham, B., & Straus, S. E. (2017). Utility of social media and crowd-sourced data for pharmacovigilance: a scoping review protocol. BMJ open , 7 (1), e013474.
“ Our protocol was developed using the scoping review methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) [1] and further refined by the Joanna Briggs Institute [3]. The draft protocol was revised upon receiving feedback from the research team, including methodologists and healthcare providers, as well as the peer-review panel of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The final version of the protocol is available upon request from the corresponding author. ”
Tricco, A. C., Lillie, E., Zarin, W., O’brien, K., Colquhoun, H., Kastner, M., … & Straus, S. E. (2016). A scoping review on the conduct and reporting of scoping reviews. BMC medical research methodology , 16 , 1-10.
This step involves developing and aligning the inclusion criteria with the objective(s) and question(s).
By providing transparent and well-justified eligibility criteria, researchers can ensure the replicability of their scoping review and allow readers to assess the relevance and appropriateness of the included sources.
When reporting eligibility criteria, emphasize the importance of clarity, justification, and a clear link to the review’s objectives.
By using the PCC framework, researchers can systematically establish boundaries for their scoping review, ensuring that the included sources are relevant to the research question. The framework helps to ensure that the eligibility criteria are comprehensive and well-defined, enabling a more focused and meaningful synthesis of the literature
It is important to note that the absence of an explicitly stated framework (e.g. PCC) does not necessarily mean that the authors did not utilize a systematic approach when developing their eligibility criteria. It is possible that they employed a framework implicitly or that their criteria development was guided by other factors.
The initial set of eligibility criteria outlined in the protocol may be subject to adjustments based on the type and volume of studies identified in the initial searches.
“ Studies that identified the key terms in the title, abstract, article, or MeSH heading were retained for further examination. Studies published as abstracts, conference proceedings or pilot results published in non-peer-reviewed journals were excluded. In addition, books, book chapters, comments on publications, and dissertations were also excluded. No exclusion criteria were established regarding the type of research design. Inclusion criteria were (a) older adults with progressive hearing loss being the population of interest and (b) the outcome measure was clearly focused on (or at least on some aspects of) stigma regarding hearing loss and/or hearing aids. Although given the descriptive aim of the review, no definitions of stigma and/or hearing aids were set a priori, and all articles including these terms were retrieved, the analysis of the data relied on the most common dimensions of the concept of stigma cited in the literarture: the cognitive dimension (i.e., stereotypes), the emotional dimension (i.e., prejudice) and the behavioral dime. ”
“ An extensive search was conducted to locate peer-reviewed articles that addressed questions related to parent involvement in organized youth sport. To guide article retrieval, two inclusion criteria were used. First, articles were required to highlight some form of parent involvement in organized youth sport. In the present study, organized youth sport was operationalized as “adultorganized and controlled athletic programs for young people,” wherein “participants are formally organized [and] attend practices and scheduled competitions under the supervision of an adult leader” (Smoll & Smith, 2002, p. xi). In line with this criterion, we did not include physical activity, exercise, physical education, and free play settings, which comprise a substantial volume of research in sport and exercise psychology. We also excluded research that simply collected data on parents or from parents but did not explicitly assess their involvement in their children’s sport participation. Second, articles were required to have been published in peer-reviewed, Englishlanguage, academic journals. As such, we did not include books, chapters, reviews, conceptual papers, conference proceedings, theses and (Jones, 2004) dissertations, or organizational “white papers” in this scoping review. ”
Dorsch, T. E., Wright, E., Eckardt, V. C., Elliott, S., Thrower, S. N., & Knight, C. J. (2021). A history of parent involvement in organized youth sport: A scoping review. Sport, Exercise, and performance psychology , 10 (4), 536.
“…to be included in the review, papers needed to measure or focus on specific dimensions of treatment burden, developed in the conceptual framework (e.g. financial, medication, administrative, lifestyle, healthcare and time/travel). Peer-reviewed journal papers were included if they were: published between the period of 2000–2016, written in English, involved human participants and described a measure for burden of treatment, e.g. including single measurements, measuring and/or incorporating one or two dimensions of burden of treatment. Quantitative, qualitative and mixed-method studies were included in order to consider different aspects of measuring treatment burden. Papers were excluded if they did not fit into the conceptual framework of the study, focused on a communicable chronic condition, for example human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) or substance abuse. Papers talking about carer burden, in addition to patient burden of treatment, were also included.”
Sav, A., Salehi, A., Mair, F. S., & McMillan, S. S. (2017). Measuring the burden of treatment for chronic disease: implications of a scoping review of the literature. BMC medical research methodology , 17 , 1-14.
Scoping reviews aim to identify a broad range of relevant studies, including both published and unpublished literature, to provide a comprehensive overview of the topic.
The goal is to be inclusive rather than exhaustive, which differentiates scoping reviews from systematic reviews that seek to collate all empirical evidence fitting pre-specified criteria to answer specific research questions.
Information sources for scoping reviews can include a wide range of resources like scholarly databases, unpublished literature, conference papers, books, and even expert consultations.
Report who developed and executed the search strategy, such as an information specialist or librarian. Mention if the search strategy was peer-reviewed using the Peer Review of Electronic Search Strategies (PRESS) checklist.
“To identify potentially relevant documents, the following bibliographic databases were searched from 2004 to June 2015: MEDLINE, EMBASE, LexisNexis Academic, the Legal Scholarship Network, Justis, LegalTrac, QuickLaw, and HeinOnline. The search strategies were drafted by an experienced librarian [name] and further refined through team discussion. The final search strategy for MEDLINE can be found in Additional file 3. The final search results were exported into EndNote, and duplicates were removed by a library technician. The electronic database search was supplemented by searching the Canadian Medical Protective Association website (https://www.cmpa-acpm.ca/en) and scanning relevant reviews.”
Cardoso, R., Zarin, W., Nincic, V., Barber, S. L., Gulmezoglu, A. M., Wilson, C., … & Tricco, A. C. (2017). Evaluative reports on medical malpractice policies in obstetrics: a rapid scoping review. Systematic reviews , 6 , 1-11.
Scoping reviews typically start with a broader, more inclusive search strategy. The initial search is intentionally wide-ranging to capture the breadth of available literature on the topic
To balance breadth and depth in your initial search strategy for a scoping review, consider the following tips based on the gathered search results:
” The planned literature search was developed on June 23, 2022. The inclusion and exclusion criteria were further refined, along with electronic databases to identify psychological and education literature (e.g., ProQuest), programs for storing data (i.e., Covidence, n.d. accessed via https://www.covidence.org/) and key search terms (e.g., resistance and transgender). The key search terms were “transgender/trans/LGBT/gender diverse/gender expansive/nonbinary,” “resistance,” and “faith/economic status/ethnicity/gender.” Daniel Abela used terms such as nonbinary, gender diverse, LGBT, and gender expansive to capture the broad spectrum of language employed in the literature when relating to individuals whose gender identification extends beyond conventional norms associated with their assigned sex at birth. Moreover, the authors wanted a diverse sample through an intersectionality lens; therefore, terms such as faith, economic status, and ethnicity were used. These terms were selected as they were deemed by all authors to be most appropriate to evaluate this study’s research question. A complete list of the final search terms and the entire electronic search strategy for the Ovid database are presented in Table 1. ”
Abela, D., Patlamazoglou, L., & Lea, S. (2024). The resistance of transgender and gender expansive people: A scoping review. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity .
Search strategy can also be reported in the appendix. For example: Supplementary A: Search strategy for scoping review .
Citation chasing involves reviewing the reference lists of included studies and examining articles that cite those studies to identify additional relevant literature. This process helps ensure that you capture a comprehensive view of the research landscape.
If citation chasing leads to the identification of new keywords or concepts, document these adjustments and how they were incorporated into the overall search strategy.
While articles included in a scoping review are selected systematically, it is important to acknowledge that there is no assumption that the evidence reviewed is exhaustive. This is often due to limitations in the search strategy or difficulty locating specific types of sources.
The goal is to identify relevant studies, with less emphasis on methodological quality. Scoping reviews generally do not appraise the quality of included studies.
Instead, scoping reviews prioritize mapping the existing literature and identifying gaps in research, regardless of the quality of the individual studies.
Two reviewers should independently screen titles and abstracts, removing duplicates and irrelevant studies based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria.
“To increase consistency among reviewers, all reviewers screened the same 50 publications, discussed the results and amended the screening and data extraction manual before beginning screening for this review. Nine reviewers working in pairs sequentially evaluated the titles, abstracts and then full text of all publications identified by our searches for potentially relevant publications. . . . We resolved disagreements on study selection and data extraction by consensus and discussion with other reviewers if needed.”
Duffett, M., Choong, K., Hartling, L., Menon, K., Thabane, L., & Cook, D. J. (2013). Randomized controlled trials in pediatric critical care: a scoping review. Critical care , 17 , 1-9.
Charting, also known as data extraction, is a crucial stage in conducting a scoping review.
This process involves systematically collecting relevant information from the sources included in the review using a structured form. It is considered best practice to have at least two reviewers independently extract data from each source
Data charting in scoping reviews differs from data extraction in systematic reviews. While systematic reviews aim to synthesize the results and assess the quality of individual studies, scoping reviews focus on mapping the existing literature and identifying key concepts, themes, and gaps in the research.
Therefore, the data charting process in scoping reviews is typically broader in scope and may involve collecting a wider range of data items compared to the more focused data extraction process used in systematic reviews.
This process goes beyond simply extracting data; it involves characterizing and summarizing research evidence, which ultimately helps identify research gaps.
“Search results for all databases were merged. Duplicates and nonrelated papers were excluded. Titles and abstracts of the remaining papers were assessed against the inclusion and exclusion criteria independently by both authors. The resulting papers were pooled and disagreements were resolved through discussion based on the full text article. Following this stage, a standardized form was used to summarize the information in each article. The variables extracted were: reference/ country, aim of the study, study design, year of publication, and main finding/results.”
“A data-charting form was jointly developed by two reviewers to determine which variables to extract. The two reviewers independently charted the data, discussed the results and continuously updated the data-charting form in an iterative process.”
Lenzen, S. A., Daniëls, R., van Bokhoven, M. A., van der Weijden, T., & Beurskens, A. (2017). Disentangling self-management goal setting and action planning: A scoping review. PloS one , 12 (11), e0188822.
If an article was eligible for inclusion in this study, data related to the patient-centered care framework or model presented in the article was extracted by the lead author and reviewed by a second author (JCM). Data extracted from the reviewed patient-centered care frameworks and models was entered into data extraction records and synthesized in summary format. Data were systematically charted using the data charting form developed in Microsoft Excel. Information on authorship, article type, population, and patientcentered care approach were recorded on this form. A second data charting form was developed to chart data on the communication systematic reviews identified. Information on clinical context, patient-centered care focus, number of studies reviewed and key findings were recorded on this form.
Constand, M. K., MacDermid, J. C., Dal Bello-Haas, V., & Law, M. (2014). Scoping review of patient-centered care approaches in healthcare. BMC health services research , 14 , 1-9.
The final charting form, which clearly defines each item, should be included in the scoping review as an appendix or supplementary file, if possible.
“We abstracted data on article characteristics (e.g., country of origin, funder), engagement characteristics and contextual factors (e.g., type of knowledge user, country income level, type of engagement activity, frequency and intensity of engagement, use of a framework to inform the intervention), barriers and facilitators to engagement, and results of any formal assessment of engagement (e.g., attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, benefits, unintended consequences).”
Tricco, A. C., Zarin, W., Rios, P., Nincic, V., Khan, P. A., Ghassemi, M., … & Langlois, E. V. (2018). Engaging policy-makers, health system managers, and policy analysts in the knowledge synthesis process: a scoping review. Implementation Science , 13 , 1-19.
The key element of a scoping review is the synthesis: that is the process that brings together the findings from the set of included studies in order to draw conclusions based on the body of evidence.
Data synthesis in a scoping review involves collating, combining, and summarizing findings from the included studies.
This process aims to provide a reliable and comprehensive answer to the review question by considering the strength of the evidence, examining the consistency of observed effects, and investigating any inconsistencies.
The data synthesis will be presented in the results section of the scoping review.
Scoping reviews often use a more descriptive approach to synthesis, summarizing the types of evidence available, key findings, and research gaps.
Remember, the goal in a scoping review is not to critically appraise the quality of individual studies or to provide a definitive answer to a narrow research question.
Instead, the synthesis aims to provide a broad overview of the field, mapping out the existing literature and identifying areas for further research.
This descriptive approach allows for a comprehensive understanding of the landscape of a particular research area.
“We grouped the studies by the types of behavior they analyzed, and summarized the type of settings, populations and study designs for each group, along with the measures used and broad findings. Where we identified a systematic review, we counted the number of studies included in the review that potentially met our inclusion criteria and noted how many studies had been missed by our search.”
Hutchinson, J., Prady, S. L., Smith, M. A., White, P. C., & Graham, H. M. (2015). A scoping review of observational studies examining relationships between environmental behaviors and health behaviors. International journal of environmental research and public health , 12 (5), 4833-4858.
The findings should be presented in a clear and logical way that answers the research question(s). This section might include tables, figures, or narrative summaries to illustrate the data.
Write a clear, concise narrative that brings together all of these elements. This should provide readers with a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge in the field, highlighting both what is known and what remains to be explored.
The primary goal of a narrative summary is to weave together the information extracted from multiple sources into a cohesive and understandable narrative. This story should focus on why a specific action is necessary, should be discontinued, or lacks sufficient evidence to determine its efficacy
A well-crafted narrative summary often utilizes headings and subheadings to organize the synthesized information logically.
This approach makes it easier for readers to follow the thought process and understand the relationships between different pieces of evidence.
Strategies on how to be sensitive to patient needs were primarily discussed in the qualitative research articles included in this review. Such strategies included acknowledging and adapting to unique patient identifiers [19,24,25]. For example, clinicians are urged to observe and reflect on fluctuating levels of patient alertness, patient comfort levels in the presence or absence of family members, and different communication barriers such as hearing loss, in order to facilitate clinical interactions [15,19,22]. Of the articles reviewed, 58% identified that careful observation of unique patient characteristics is necessary to providing care that will lead to optimal patient receptiveness and positive health outcomes.
While narrative summaries primarily use text, incorporating tables, charts, or diagrams can enhance clarity, particularly when presenting complex data patterns.
However, always accompany these visual aids with a clear textual explanation to ensure comprehensive understanding.
Using a PRISMA flowchart in a scoping review is considered good practice. It promotes transparency and allows for a clear understanding of how sources were selected.
The flowchart illustrates the step-by-step process of screening, filtering, and selecting studies based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Petersen, B., Koshy-Chenthittayil, S., DeArmond, M., & Caromile, L. A. (2023). Assessment of diversity-based approaches used by American Universities to increase recruitment and retention of biomedical sciences research faculty members: A scoping review protocol. Plos one , 18 (6), e0276089.
Summarizing the evidence in relation to the purpose of the review, making conclusions and noting any implications of the findings.
It is also essential to remember that scoping reviews, unlike systematic reviews, do not aim to provide concrete recommendations for practice or policy.
Their primary function is to map the existing evidence, identify knowledge gaps, and clarify concepts, rather than synthesize results for direct application in clinical or policy settings
“In this scoping review we identified 88 primary studies addressing dissemination and implementation research across various settings of dementia care published between 1998 and 2015. Our findings indicate a paucity of research focusing specifically on dissemination of knowledge within dementia care and a limited number of studies on implementation in this area. We also found that training and educating professionals, developing stakeholder interrelationships, and using evaluative and iterative strategies are frequently employed to introduce and promote change in practice. However, although important and feasible, these strategies only partly address what is repeatedly highlighted in the evidence base: that organisational factors are reported as the main barrier to implementation of knowledge within dementia care. Moreover, included studies clearly support an increased effort to improve the quality of dementia care provided in residential settings in the last decade.”
Lourida, I., Abbott, R. A., Rogers, M., Lang, I. A., Stein, K., Kent, B., & Thompson Coon, J. (2017). Dissemination and implementation research in dementia care: a systematic scoping review and evidence map. BMC geriatrics , 17 , 1-12.
When considering the limitations of a review process, particularly scoping reviews, it’s essential to acknowledge that the goal is breadth, not depth, of information.
This means that unlike systematic reviews, scoping reviews generally don’t involve a formal appraisal of the methodological quality of included studies, unless specifically required by the review’s aim.
“Our scoping review has some limitations. To make our review more feasible, we were only able to include a random sample of rapid reviews from websites of rapid review producers. Further adding to this issue is that many rapid reviews contain proprietary information and are not publicly available. As such, our results are only likely generalizable to rapid reviews that are publicly available. Furthermore, this scoping review was an enormous undertaking and our results are only up to date as of May 2013.”
Tricco, A. C., Antony, J., Zarin, W., Strifler, L., Ghassemi, M., Ivory, J., … & Straus, S. E. (2015). A scoping review of rapid review methods. BMC medicine , 13 , 1-15.
Discuss implications:.
“The lack of evidence to support physiotherapy interventions for this population appears to pose a challenge to physiotherapists. The aim of this scoping review was to identify gaps in the literature which may guide a future systematic review. However, the lack of evidence found means that undertaking a systematic review is not appropriate or necessary […]. This advocates high quality research being needed to determine what physiotherapy techniques may be of benefit for this population and to help guide physiotherapists as how to deliver this.”
Hall, A. J., Lang, I. A., Endacott, R., Hall, A., & Goodwin, V. A. (2017). Physiotherapy interventions for people with dementia and a hip fracture—a scoping review of the literature. Physiotherapy , 103 (4), 361-368.
Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases volume 19 , Article number: 285 ( 2024 ) Cite this article
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Clinical development for orphan drugs presents significant difficulties and challenges. There is no unique or standard design, conduct, and outcome assessment methodology and it is sometimes impractical to fit design models of rare disease trials in any practiced and well-known framework. In the European Union (EU) these challenges encompass a broad array of subjects, including trial design, study outcomes, patient recruitment, trial conduct ethics, trial cost, and chances of success. This literature-based review study aims to provide a thorough overview of the critical aspects of rare disease trials in the EU by analyzing the current landscape of rare disease trials, highlighting key challenges, delving into regulatory and research initiatives and innovation in trial designs, and proposing multi-faceted solutions to implement effective rare disease clinical trials in the region.
Traditional clinical trial designs, validation, and evaluation methodologies used for nonorphan drugs often prove unsuitable for orphan drugs, given the small patient populations, sometimes fewer than 1000 cases. There is an increasing need for accessible therapies and both regulators as well as industry are trying to develop affordable and effective drugs to address this need. Despite several steps that have been taken, the timely development of drugs remains a challenge. One of the reasons behind the long development timeline is the recruitment, retention, and conduct of rare disease trials. To optimize the development timelines of orphan drugs in the EU, it is important to ensure that the safety and efficacy of the product is not compromised. Industry and regulatory agencies must implement innovative trial designs, devise flexible policies, and incorporate real-world data for assessing clinical outcomes.
Collaboration among academic institutions, pharmaceutical companies (both small and major), patient groups, and health authorities is crucial in overcoming obstacles related to clinical trials and providing assistance and creative ideas. The ultimate objective of granting rare disease patients timely and affordable access to medications with a positive balance between benefits and risks is to be met.
Developing effective treatments for rare diseases is challenging due to their low prevalence in the EU, with only 5 patients per 10,000. Most rare diseases lack adequate treatment options. Conducting clinical trials with small populations is challenging resulting in limited evidence generation. To address this issue, regulatory guidance, such as the “Guideline on clinical trials in small populations” [ 1 ] by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) guidance in the EU, covers various aspects of clinical trials, including pharmacological factors, endpoint selection, control group selection, methodological considerations, statistical considerations, and levels of evidence. In 2012, the European Commission (EC) launched a call for proposals, “New methodologies for clinical trials for small population groups,” under the FP7 health innovation framework [ 2 ]. This initiative aimed to develop improved statistical methods for assessing the safety and effectiveness of treatments for small population groups, focusing on rare diseases and personalized medicine and increasing evidence generation from the clinical trials to support safety and efficacy outcomes. The objective was to reduce trial design costs and conduct effective clinical trials that produce reliable outcomes for rare disease studies involving small patient populations [ 3 ]. Randomized clinical trials have been tried on rare disease trials in the EU, but since the population of patients is small the question of appropriate sample inclusion and impact of outcomes of these trials in the long run cannot be surely concluded [ 3 ]. In recent times, innovative clinical trial designs using advanced statistical methods, simulation programs to emulate real-life trial designs and scenarios, and usage of real-world evidence (RWE) to assess and determine clinical endpoints for study design are some of the approaches proposed by regulators.
This study employs a review of various literature types encompassing review papers, concept papers, points of view, empirical researchers, policy guidelines, and expert reviews to explore the challenges faced by researchers in conducting rare disease trials in the EU as well as patient perspectives, and regulatory hurdles.
It aims to provide key insights by incorporating views and findings from various sources by adopting a fresh perspective considering the evolving landscape of rare disease policies and increasing focus on orphan drug research based on the latest scientific advancements. This study also aims to introduce actionable recommendations beyond theoretical practices and general solutions by incorporating suggestions based on technical advancements in health tracking, disease progression modeling using natural history data, and treatment outcome assessments and provides perspectives for conducting future research in this domain. It focuses on the specific regional nuances of the EU and attempts to identify strategies that will fit into the orphan drug development and regulatory framework of this region.
This study adopts an interdisciplinary approach to promote innovative trial designs led by improved policy decisions, simulation modeling and effective usage of registry and natural history data, novel endpoint and biomarker-based effectiveness assessments, adopting innovative drug development planning, and improving collaboration across the healthcare value chain.
Study selection and data collection.
This study was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Refer PRISMA Checklist for details. The criteria for the selection of relevant studies and documents and for performing the necessary assessment of relevant literature are provided below.
Search was performed to retrieve relevant studies, policy documents, and online materials from PubMed, SCOPUS, BMJ, JAMA, Nature, Web of Science collection, Taylor and Francis Online, and internet search. Search terms were categorized into three parts:
Population: “rare disease OR orphan drugs” AND (Europe OR European Union OR EU OR “multicountry”).
Intervention: “clinical trial” OR “clinical research” OR “drug development”.
Outcomes: “regulatory challenges” OR “regulatory hurdles” OR “innovative designs” OR “patient recruitment” OR “trial design” OR “methodology” OR “regulatory strategies” OR “real-world data” OR “natural history data”.
The indexing was performed using the following search query:
(“rare disease” OR “orphan drug “) AND (“Europe” OR “European Union” OR “EU” OR “multicountry”) AND ((“clinical trial” OR “clinical research” OR “drug development”) AND (((“regulatory challenge” OR “regulatory hurdle”) OR “regulatory strategy” OR (“innovative design” OR “trial design” OR “methodology”) OR (“patient recruitment” OR “patient engagement”) OR (“real world data” OR “real world evidence”) OR “natural history data”).
The data related to the clinical trial landscape were extracted from the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) of the World Health Organization and the EU-related data were filtered based on the EU Clinical Trial registry.
We tailored data extraction to fit the study’s qualitative and narrative nature, systematically retrieving key meta-data like document details, publication dates, objectives, designs, policies, shortcomings, opportunities, and findings. Two independent reviewers ensured the accuracy of data by reviewing various aspects covered in the documents.
The content considered for inclusion comprised studies that report on the regulatory and clinical challenges of conducting rare disease clinical trials in the EU and focused on regulatory and innovative strategies to address the same, studies including commentaries, reviews, and editorials that provide recommendations or solutions to overcome the challenges of rare disease clinical trials in the EU, studies that are published in English or have an English abstract available and studies that are published from 2005 onwards, to reflect the evolving regulatory and clinical landscape of rare disease research and trials in the EU. Also, articles and web publications in peer-reviewed journals or websites and from reputable organizations were considered for study.
Studies that do not focus on rare disease clinical trials, or only mention them as a secondary or minor aspect, studies that did not address the EU context, or only mention it as a secondary or minor aspect, Studies that provided a generic overview of these aspects and have methodological limitations and studies not directly addressing the specifics of the challenges and not providing any insight into innovative trials and clinical evaluation or planning were excluded from the study.
23 journal articles and 30 web publications (position papers, editorials, frameworks, guidelines, and details of stakeholder organizations in the EU rare disease landscape) were considered to conduct this study.
The research focus and findings of the 23 journal articles are provided in Table 1 . Please refer below:
The studies of rare disease trials have proposed key conceptual frameworks and have also provided empirical insights into the design, conduct, evaluation, and outcome of these trials. A baseline synthesisation of key findings from these studies provides a core observation that the design and conduct of clinical trials can be assumed to be centered around three themes: Disease characteristics, Trial Design and Methodology, and Clinical Outcome Assessment. The core concept of clinical research plans begins with understanding specific rare diseases, their heterogeneity, and natural history, which inform Trial Design and Methodology, including study objectives, endpoints, and ethical considerations. Clinical outcomes and impacts, such as efficacy, safety, patient-reported outcomes, and cost-effectiveness, are influenced by the chosen methodology and may vary across different ethnic groups and even within patients at various stages of the disease or encountering specific molecular subsets of the disease. Relationships between these themes highlight the iterative nature of clinical research and especially in the case of rare diseases these iterations may not be sequential but in most cases need to be concurrent and flexible to ensure maximum and diverse patient coverage. Incorporating the themes in a common regulatory and funding framework across the EU becomes challenging due to huge ethnic, geographical, financial, infrastructural, and cultural diversity. Stakeholder perspectives, comparative analysis, ethical considerations, and future directions add depth to ongoing drug development initiatives. This approach warrants the inclusion of diverse viewpoints, ethical awareness, ongoing refinement of research practices, and continuous innovation in the design and conduct of trials to address the unique challenges and opportunities in rare disease clinical trials within the EU.
Clinical trials conducted based on therapeutic areas in the eu.
Between 2007 and 2022, 152 clinical trials were conducted on orphan drugs in the EU, as recorded in the EU Clinical Trial Registry. Refer to Fig. 1 . 23% of the trials were on cancer-related therapies, followed by blood disorders with an 18% share of the trials and congenital abnormalities with a 14% share of the trials. The rest of the trials were related to other therapeutic areas, such as cardiovascular diseases, immune system diseases, and nervous disorders.
Orphan drug clinical trials based on therapeutic area (2007–2022) (EU Clinical Trial Registry). Source International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) [ 9 ]
Between 2007 and 2022, clinical trials on orphan drugs have seen both an increase and a decrease on a year-on-year basis, with a decrease observed during the intermittent period mainly in 2015 and 2016. Refer to Fig. 2 . After that, the trend has been upward again, with 22 trials being conducted in 2021, which is the highest in the period under observation. The number again decreased to 12 in 2022. There is an average increase of 51% in the clinical trial volume from 2007 to 2022.
Yearly orphan drug clinical trials in EU (2007–2022). Source International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) [ 9 ]
Between 2007 and 2022, biological products underwent 78 trials compared to 71 trials for synthetic drugs. Refer to Fig. 3 . This might be an indication that investments made by the EU in the field of biotechnology have created a favorable environment for sponsors for biologic development. The EU market provided potential commercial opportunities due to less competition in the field of biologics. Biologics may also be favored due to their targeted mechanism of action, high specificity and efficacy, and ability to modulate complex biological processes underlying the specific disease being treated. These factors make biologics more suitable therapies than synthetic drugs for diseases belonging to certain therapeutic areas.
Orphan drug trial volume based on product type in EU (2007–2022). Source International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) [ 9 ]
Between 2007 and 2022, Novo Nordisk conducted the maximum number of clinical trials focusing on congenital, hereditary, and neonatal diseases and abnormalities, nutritional and metabolic diseases, digestive system diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and blood and nervous disorders. It was followed by BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc., which conducted 19 trials focusing on blood disorders and immune system diseases. The top 10 companies contributed to 64% of all orphan drug clinical trials in the EU between 2007 and 2022. Refer to Fig. 4 .
Top 10 companies in terms of orphan drug trials in EU (2007–2022). Source International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) [ 9 ]
Clinical trials on biologics have seen an increase between 2019 and 2022 primarily due to an increased focus on biologics development for rare disease therapies. This is also backed by the growing knowledge of genetic markers of specific diseases that help in the development of targeted therapies for patients. It was observed that 45% of all biologic therapeutic trials between 2007 and 2022, were carried out between 2019 and 2022. Refer to Fig. 5 .
Yearly trend of clinical trials of orphan drugs based on product types in EU (2007–2022). Source International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) [ 9 ]
Companies have been showing an increased interest in orphan drug development in the EU, primarily supported by the EMA’s orphan drug development incentives such as ten years of market exclusivity for orphan-designated products, centralized and accelerated review of marketing authorization applications for orphan products, conditional marketing authorization of certain drug types, compassionate access under exceptional circumstances for patients with high morbidity, application and regulatory fee waivers and EC research frameworks and grants for orphan drug innovation and rare disease natural history studies. Most of the major pharmaceutical companies have developed and conducted trials on a considerable number of orphan drugs across different therapeutic areas. This, supported by collaborative programs by European Reference Networks (ERNs), the European Joint Program on Rare Diseases (EJP-RD) [ 10 , 11 ], and the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) [ 12 ] has played a major role in creating a translational research environment for orphan drug development and innovative trial design. Many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) working on rare disease innovation in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical domain are supported by the European Confederation of Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs (EUCOPE) in terms of financial incentives, development support, and scientific advisory. EUCOPE also acts as a bridge for advancing translational research. Qualified SMEs receive additional incentives from the EMA like a 100% fee reduction for administrative and procedural assistance, pre-authorization inspection, initial marketing authorization application and post-authorization applications, and annual fee, specified in Council Regulation (EC) No 297/9554, in the first year from granting of a marketing authorization. The development of unified patient databases through the European Rare Disease Registry Infrastructure (ERDRI) and Patient-Reported Outcome and Quality of Life Instruments Database (PROQOLID) [ 13 ] database by Mapi Research Trust has provided valuable information on Real World Data from patient treatment outcomes, valuable biomarkers, diagnostic reports, and observer as well patient experience feedback [ 14 ]. Although there have been definitive steps taken at the EC level, regulatory agency level, and by research consortiums and patient organizations such as the European Organization for Rare Diseases (EURORDIS) [ 15 ], the pace of innovation and marketing approval of drugs is not as expected, as is evident from the overall analysis presented in the landscape section Apart from the practical challenges that are discussed in a later section, ineffective utilization of regulatory incentives and the requirement of high capital investment have been factors behind a slower pace of therapeutic development. Along with the key requirements of addressing clinical trial issues, it is equally important to implement an alternative approach to drug development planning to increase the participation of players in orphan drug clinical research and development.
Practical challenges in conducting orphan drug clinical trials in the european union.
Clinical trials, being one of the most significant stages in the drug development lifecycle face various hurdles, especially in a multi-country setup like the EU. It includes finding eligible patients and overcoming awareness issues. International trials introduce further complexities like consensus on diagnosis and cultural considerations [ 4 ] Disease heterogeneity poses further challenges making progression tracking difficult, and varied manifestations across different patient groups create challenges in diagnosis, treatment, and understanding effectiveness [ 5 ]. Genetic factors, variability in disease frequency among patient groups [ 3 ], lack of knowledge about disease progression [ 7 ], and co-existing illnesses complicate the determination of inclusion/exclusion criteria and the tenure of trials [ 8 , 16 ]. In many cases, RCTs fail to deliver the desired trial outcomes in normal settings. Limited knowledge about appropriate endpoints complicates protocol design, hindering regulatory approval. Small patient populations and data variability exacerbate challenges in demonstrating drug effectiveness and safety, compounded by the absence of standardized clinical trial templates for most rare [ 6 , 17 ]. Balancing risks and benefits, respecting autonomy, and ensuring equal access are crucial issues. The limited treatment options make patients more likely to accept risks, raising concerns about informed consent which becomes a critical ethical issue [ 17 ]. Evolving regulations with stricter requirements and limited expert resources can delay research [ 18 ]. Regulatory processes and differing policies across countries add complexity to the design and conduct of rare disease trials in the EU [ 19 ]. Regulators must rely on literature review information and empirical data to a large extent when making decisions. Data extrapolation is followed for diseases with existing data, while for diseases with little prior data, several iterations need to be performed across different patient population samples resulting in cost overruns or high expenditure for the sponsors. A considerable patient population of rare disease patients is children, posing challenges in recruitment, retention, and management due to factors like developmental, emotional, and family dynamics. The varying clinical research approaches for pediatric and adult use intensify complexities in recruitment criteria, consent, and regulatory acceptance of study outcomes, amplifying oversight of ethical aspects in conducting trials [ 20 ]. In terms of costs, rare disease clinical trials incur high costs due to challenges such as the geographical spread of patients, complex trial protocols, and expensive manufacturing overheads to meet regulatory standards. Specialized trial designs may be necessary to recruit the required number of patients, further escalating expenses. Additionally, data collection and analysis using sophisticated statistical models, drive up the overall cost of drug development. Hence, this factor becomes one of the key components in drug pricing, treatment availability, and reimbursement as well. Countries like Germany, with a strong economy and financial budget, have the privilege to establish initial prices of innovative therapies making it one of the initial markets for product launch. This results in a price that may be attractive to the sponsor company but may pose a significant financial burden on countries with less financial resources and undeveloped reimbursement schemes. The downside of high pricing needs to be considered as well. Any kind of failure in price negotiations for high-cost therapies with the national Governments results in the withdrawal of the therapeutic product from the entire EU market due to a lack of reference and attractive pricing for the company. An example of this was the withdrawal of Zynteglo, for the treatment of severe Beta thalassemia and of Skysona, for the treatment of Cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy by Bluebird Bio. Pricing remains a critical issue in rare disease drug development and treatment availability [ 21 ]. One approach to mitigate the cost issue, is to implement specialized National Action Plans for rare diseases as per recommendations of the European Council. From an economic point of view, it seems difficult to implement uniform research plans, funding mechanisms, and reimbursement schemes across all member states. To address this, the European Committee of Experts on Rare Diseases (EUCERD) came out with EUROPLAN indicators to monitor the progress of plans in individual member states. These indicators can help track the progress of the National Action Plans. Stronger economies can provide financial and administrative expertise and financial grants through the E-Rare (ERA-NET) research program on rare diseases. An increased public-private partnership should be encouraged to enhance the expertise in conducting clinical research through a multi-stakeholder collaborative approach. This will provide an initial booster to the weaker economies to streamline their action plans and frame appropriate funding and reimbursement mechanisms for rare disease drug development and treatment.
RCTs have been the globally accepted and most reliable clinical trial design among clinical researchers, investigators, and regulatory agencies for demonstrating the effectiveness of a drug. However, conducting multiple RCTs can be time-consuming, and expensive, and may not fully reflect real-world clinical settings. As a result, there is a growing interest in finding innovative approaches to enhance the efficiency of clinical research [ 22 ]. RCTs are designed with standardized and comprehensive outcome measurements to determine the safety of the drug under trial. RCTs generate substantial evidence to determine the effectiveness of the drug by incorporating bias-reduction techniques to reduce errors in observations [ 22 ].
Randomization helps to differentiate between treatment outcomes as well as the variability of outcomes within a group. However, despite the multiple benefits and robustness of the design of RCTs, the validity of these cannot be always confirmed in orphan drug scenarios due to the small patient population. This is due to sampling techniques being unable to provide sufficient observation points. The design of orphan drug trials requires multicentre coordination across different locations in the world [ 8 ]. This requires the design and analysis of innovative trials through appropriate randomization procedures for a smaller population of patients. As the patient population varies across diseases as well as across demography or geography, there are always differing amounts of bias. Hence, it is imperative that no unique procedure or randomization technique is applicable, and it should be supported by proper design methodology, statistical tests, and analytical methods [ 3 ].
Randomized trials are highly dependent on patient registry information to identify specific representative populations. Periodic reference to the updated registries can help sponsors improve study design and determine study cohorts to conduct case-control and observational studies. This helps in bias reduction but there are also certain challenges in terms of rare disease trial design. Existing registries may not have adequate information and validation of the correctness becomes a challenge due to highly fragmented content, lack of expertise, and data sharing or privacy controls. From a disease perspective, the progression of rare diseases is highly heterogeneous and varies between demographics and geographical dispersions. Genetic markers within the same geographical area can vary between communities with few communities highly susceptible to the disease due to cultural or lifestyle practices. In this scenario, it is difficult to determine the proper natural history and clinical endpoint based on diagnostic and treatment outcomes [ 3 ].
While statistical sampling and analytical methodologies are proven to be highly effective in identifying patient subsets and trial effectiveness outcomes for RCTs for nonorphan drug trials, the same methodologies may not prove effective in the case of rare disease trial designs. It is important to identify efficient design and analysis techniques. While it is recommended to adopt well-defined, widely used, and regulatory-approved techniques, evaluations need to be performed and continuous monitoring is required to establish method validity and adaptability to various trial designs for rare diseases [ 3 ]. In studies of rare diseases, small sample sizes can severely restrict design options, hinder the usage of standard statistical models as mandated by regulators, and make replication of study models difficult. To assess the efficacy and safety of potential treatments, it is imperative to explore novel and innovative statistical designs [ 23 ]. It is also important to identify an appropriate observation population and study cohort to ensure that bias is properly addressed by using computer simulation models and advanced statistical techniques. While computer simulation methodologies can address the population issue to a considerable extent by identifying patient cohorts for randomized studies; it is also important to systematically study the interactions between treatment and disease phenotypes to prepare targeted trials to understand drug-patient interactions under personalized settings and individual requirements. Statistical algorithmic models can prove helpful in this regard. Digital endpoints generated from sensors installed in wearables can provide valuable real-time data that can be fed to computer simulation models to identify appropriate biomarkers and generate clinically relevant endpoints or surrogate endpoints [ 24 ]. However, there is a challenge, as identifying relevant and meaningful data from multiple observations in the form of digital data is time-consuming and requires multiple iterations.
Effective usage of natural history and disease registry data for trial design.
The strategic utilization of natural history and disease registry data plays a pivotal role in the design of clinical trials for rare diseases. This data serves as a roadmap, providing valuable insights into the complex and unique progression trajectories of these diseases, which is an essential component in assessing the impact of new therapeutic interventions [ 25 ]. It is important to harness the crucial information around these studies to derive quantifiable biomarkers to effectively chart the therapeutic roadmap, design the trial along with devising a robust drug development plan to augment the possibilities of regulatory approval supported by appropriate safety and efficacy data. Studies have been conducted on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy based on natural history data for identification of relevant biomarkers based on progression and severity and these data provided valuable data for regulatory assessment [ 26 , 27 ]. It is to be noted that the landscape of natural history studies on rare diseases faces multiple challenges, including a limited pool of participants, issues with data quality, and the existence of data silos [ 28 ]. However, innovative solutions to design simulation models utilizing machine learning, are emerging to address these obstacles, fostering an environment of collaboration among stakeholders and promoting shared learning to enhance knowledge and expedite orphan drug discovery. Properly designed and maintained non-proprietary patient and disease registries based on real-world data, clinician and patient-reported outcomes and natural history study databases are cornerstones in this endeavor, offering a wealth of information about rare diseases [ 23 ]. These resources enable the design of robust clinical trials equipped with outcome measures that are both relevant and clinically meaningful. By harnessing this data, researchers can significantly enhance the design of clinical trials for rare diseases. This will lead to the development of more effective therapies in the EU, enable informed regulatory approvals, and pave the way for improved patient outcomes, marking a significant stride in developing and implementing a robust patient-centered approach toward orphan drug development.
In clinical trial designs for orphan drugs, the process of obtaining approvals should take into account the outcome variations and underlying variability in disease manifestations. Due to the lack of a sufficient population, Phase 3 studies for orphan drug approvals tend to include a smaller number of patients, do not have placebo controls in many cases, and employ nonrandomized and unblinded trial designs, such as a single-arm design and surrogate endpoints, for assessing efficacy [ 3 ]. This requires proper planning, collaboration, and timeliness. As in most cases, rare disease trials involve multiple sites, and consensus is required between researchers and regulatory agencies in terms of the definition and classification of the disease under trial, identification of appropriate biomarkers and endpoints, and assessment of outcomes on commonly accepted standards. Under these circumstances, innovative trial designs such as basket trials and umbrella trials can help to address these issues. Basket trials enable researchers to investigate certain disease types with specific genetic biomarkers under a common trial design and protocol. Using this approach, researchers test the efficacy of targeted therapies by grouping patients based on molecular characteristics of the disease and provide valuable insights into the potential benefits of a treatment in rare diseases. These trials use a common targeted intervention. On the other hand, umbrella trials involve enrolling patients with the same disease but with different molecular or genetic subtypes. This design allows researchers to test multiple targeted therapies simultaneously within the same disease population, including rare diseases. Umbrella trials help identify which subgroups of patients may benefit from specific treatments, leading to more personalized and effective interventions. These trials use multiple targeted interventions. Both of these trials can also be designed using control groups through randomization, thus ensuring bias reduction and effective assessment of clinical outcomes. These trials have certain advantages, such as sharing the same control group to improve efficiency, reducing the likelihood of patients receiving a placebo, allowing comparisons between active substances and pooling of data from active treatments, and sharing of resources, thus leading to reduced trial costs and more efficient use of trial logistics [ 16 ]. In a rare disease setting, these trials may face some challenges around sponsor coordination in terms of multiple treatment trials, complex study design, competing and conflicting interests among stakeholders, operational challenges when international centers and multiple sites are involved, and implementing and following a common protocol. In this scenario, the ERICA, ERNs, patient advocacy groups, and centers of excellence can play an active role in identifying suitable patient populations and can act as co-ordinators or collaborators for designing, funding, and assisting in conducting trials through disease expertise, data sharing, execution management and assessing the outcomes of trials in multicenter settings [ 16 ].
Adaptive trial designs can offer flexibility and increase the efficacy of rare disease trials. Adaptive design trials encompass modified randomization procedures, the addition or discontinuation of treatment arms or doses, sample size adjustments based on interim results, adaptive patient population enrichment, and the incorporation of prespecified rules for efficacy. These designs in exploratory settings allow for the evaluation of various doses, regimens, and populations, focusing on the most favorable observations that will ensure promising results. They increase flexibility and acceptability and maximize the trial’s potential based on gathered data. Prespecified modifications maintain validity and integrity while adjusting elements of the study design [ 29 ]. The statistical approach of these trial designs enables modifications of study elements for minimizing errors, careful planning, and ensuring trial ethics and integrity [ 8 ]. While designing these trials, it is important to address and mitigate challenges around operational logistics, feasibility, and access to technical expertise. These are crucial considerations in designing clinical trials and special attention should be given to rare disease trials. Adequate study design expertise is necessary to ensure appropriate planning, for which experienced clinical researchers, statisticians, and healthcare professionals who are well-versed in rare diseases and orphan drug trial design, execution, and outcome assessment should be identified. Additionally, maintaining data and trial integrity becomes essential for post-interim analyses. This requires data storage and analytics planning. Addressing concerns related to bias in estimated treatment effects further strengthens the integrity of the trial, and outcomes and observations become more acceptable to regulators [ 8 ].
In the adaptive seamless design, trials are merged, and analyses are seamlessly integrated by including data from patients enrolled both before and after the adaptation in the final analysis [ 30 ]. Adaptive seamless designs, particularly in the context of rare diseases, offer an appealing approach when traditional group sequential designs for assessing efficacy or futility may not be feasible due to limited sample sizes [ 31 ]. These designs integrate a Phase 2 study, which focuses on treatment selection, with a Phase 3 study for confirmatory testing. This integration allows for treatment selection and the re-evaluation of sample size at a predefined interim analysis [ 3 ]. The use of adaptive seamless designs in rare disease clinical trials offers several benefits. It maximizes patient data utilization, leading to stronger conclusions, while reducing the number of patients and saving time and costs in Phase 3. It improves target dose and participant selection, explores covariates between Phase 2 endpoints and Phase 3 outcomes, and provides valuable information on treatment effects and safety by following patients from terminated treatment groups. Additionally, it allows for treatment modifications, enhancing the chances of patients receiving safe and effective treatments [ 32 ]. Challenges arise when working with these designs, including the time required for their design and the need for appropriate analyses to account for potential bias in treatment effect estimates due to data combinations at different study phases [ 16 ].
Decentralized methods involve conducting assessments in alternative locations such as participants’ homes, local clinics, or digital platforms on mobile devices or computers and not at centralized medical facilities. Decentralized clinical trial (DCT) approaches that incorporate physical and virtual consultations, along with online access to medicines or providing drugs through local clinicians or pharmacists, can bring substantial benefits by reducing the burden on patients and their families [ 33 ]. DCTs do not completely remove the physical interactions between clinicians and patients. It leverages digital health technologies (DHTs) such as medical devices and wearables. for electronic collection and usage of reliable diagnostic and clinical data, clinical outcome assessments (COAs), Patient and Observer Reported Outcomes, and clinical health records. These enable clinicians to determine exploratory patient-relevant endpoints, enable targeted patient recruitment, and help in collecting and updating data registries for secondary usage in future trials as reference points. This integrated approach will help clinical trial design be more focused on the outcomes. DCTs have their setup challenges in terms of technology adoption and usage, data privacy and technology literacy concerns, and site readiness with appropriate infrastructure, trained personnel, and logistical support. Keeping in mind the needs of patients, industry and clinical stakeholders need to upgrade technical aspects and knowledge of data collection and analysis [ 34 ]. Addressing data privacy concerns while sharing data across multiple trial sites as per domestic and international regulations will ensure confidentiality and appropriate usage of data. If the challenges are properly addressed, DCTs can play a crucial role in terms of increased adoption in conducting rare disease clinical trials and acceptance across regulators during decision-making.
As rare disease clinical trials are subjected to small patient populations, nonrandomization has been adopted in multiple scenarios. Nonrandomized clinical trials that compare against external controls have proven effective in an expanding range of cases, especially in the context of rare diseases. These designs are particularly valuable when randomization is impractical or ethically challenging, or when the available pool of patients with a specific condition is limited [ 22 ]. Clinical trial researchers need to understand disease progression and interpret measurements accordingly, but precise methods often don’t translate well to real-world practice. Control groups in these studies are generally being replaced with historical controls based on natural history data. Natural history studies provide a context for a “dry run” of clinical trials, facilitate biological endpoint selection, help in designing an informed clinical trial program with appropriate inclusion/exclusion criteria, help in selecting proper biomarkers for treatment delivery [ 28 ], and help to understand long-term trial issues. Errors in this stage are less costly and can inform improvements in the actual trial. Clinical assessments are performed accordingly under small patient population settings providing contextual evidence for regulatory assessment. Incorporating external controls in clinical trials requires meticulous analysis and adept adjustment. Controls are chosen from data obtained from registries, medical records, and scientific literature. Data are also obtained from data from expanded access programs, which provide access to investigational treatments for patients with serious or life-threatening conditions [ 22 ]. The process of utilizing external controls entails rigorous statistical methods that help minimize potential biases that can influence results and ensure the validity and reliability of the trial findings.
In many situations, regulators have provided flexibility to sponsors and trial organizers for rare disease clinical trials. Placebo control can be omitted, trial design can be unblinded and nonrandomized, surrogate endpoints can be used for efficacy assessment and trials can be single-arm [ 3 ]. Another possible approach is the substitution of clinical endpoints with biomarkers, ideally in the form of a panel of biomarkers representing various aspects of the disease [ 28 ] In the case of rare diseases with insufficient biomarkers, the totality of trends in clinical efficacy and safety data can be assessed by utilizing the entire body of available evidence followed by response simulations from clinical trials and pharmacological modeling of data based on reliable biomarkers [ 25 ]. These enable adjusting sample sizes, treatment arms, or endpoints, to ensure the most efficient use of resources and maximize the chances of obtaining meaningful results. The preference or requirement for evidence about safety from RCTs must be still present, as these are based on feasibility considerations, such as the practicality of measuring and monitoring safety levels. However, small population trials may not provide sufficient information about safety or efficacy in the long term. To address the unmet medical needs of patients and prioritize public health, it may be possible to consider granting marketing authorizations with less comprehensive data than typically needed [ 8 ]. Hence, ongoing monitoring and data collection of a new medicine is being proposed for evaluating efficacy endpoints. It involves monitoring safety, minimizing risks, conducting additional studies for more knowledge, and evaluating risk-minimization strategies. This helps gather valuable insights to enhance understanding and management of the medicine’s benefits and risks [ 31 ]. Regulators can provide the flexibility to sponsors to devise a plan for data monitoring and continuous feedback rather than solely relying on trial outcomes. Additionally, protocol flexibility facilitates the inclusion of novel trial methodologies, such as basket or umbrella trials, which can evaluate multiple treatments or subgroups within the rare disease population simultaneously [ 35 ]. By embracing protocol flexibility, researchers can address rare disease trial-specific challenges, apply statistical models for design and outcome analysis that are tailored to adaptive trial settings, and improve the chances of successful outcomes and the development of effective therapies for patients with rare diseases. Another aspect regarding adopting flexible protocol is to undertake a multi-faceted approach to train assessors in data evaluation for rare diseases, to enable them to approve applications based on limited data. This includes a deeper understanding of disease heterogeneity, an understanding of the uniqueness of disease manifestation through direct patient interaction, the adoption of machine learning and iterative approaches in data assessment, and ongoing skill enhancement programs. Specific training programs in line with the National Institute of Health (NIH) funded R25 Rare Disease Clinical Research Training Program can impart specialized skills to assessors in rare disease clinical data assessment. To promote innovation in clinical trial design, the Scientific Advice Working Party (SAWP) under the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the EMA administers a process to evaluate and qualify innovative methodologies for drug development. This involves providing scientific advice and opinions on various methodologies, such as the multiple comparison procedure modeling, which is recognized as an effective statistical approach for model-based design and analysis [ 8 ].
Data extrapolation can be adopted by researchers by leveraging available data from various sources. This can include using historical control data, real-world evidence, registries, electronic health records, clinical literature, and scientific papers or data from similar diseases or patient populations and applying extrapolation techniques to infer the treatment’s effectiveness. By extrapolating data, researchers can make informed judgments about the efficacy of the treatment in the context of the rare disease [ 36 ]. This has been utilized to extend existing treatments in adults to the pediatric population based on scientific evidence and assessing their efficacy. This strategy was adopted as part of a need to address the practical and ethical challenges associated with conducting clinical trials in pediatric patient populations and was discussed in an EMA concept paper. If there are scientifically robust data available for an orphan indication, it might be possible to extend these data to offer substantiating evidence for the reasonable certainty of effectiveness, likely advantage, and safety for another orphan indication or subset of a population. The determination of the amount and reliability of data to be utilized for extrapolation, along with the timing of the extrapolation (whether in early or late phase trials), must be carefully assessed on an individual basis for each case [ 16 ]. Data can be obtained from clinical trials, real-world evidence, and non-clinical studies. Early identification of relevant data, in collaboration with regulatory authorities, is crucial and can be aligned with a pediatric investigation plan development during initiating studies in adults [ 23 ]. As there is limited experience and educational gap in this area thus far, it is important to assess all the nuances and plan the methodologies and validation models by applying rigorous statistical and scientific methods to ensure the correctness and reliability of the extrapolated results. To address knowledge gaps and skills, it is crucial to implement a skill development initiative and continuous assessment for biostatisticians, clinicians, and data analysts.
It is important to engage the currently known patient population through patient advocacy groups, outreach programs, and advertisements while designing clinical trials. Engaging patients at an early stage and continuous feedback and information sharing can help understand the concerns of the relevant group and can streamline various aspects of trial design, such as safety considerations, benefit-risk assessment, and selection of endpoints [ 16 ]. It is recommended to consult with patients who have experience with clinical trials, and early engagement is preferable. Study designs that are based on patient preferences can serve as crucial and valuable reference points in the overall drug development process and regulatory decision-making. Patient motivation also plays a crucial role, as any new treatment that can prove to be effective will have increased interest among target groups and continuous engagement gives a sense of responsibility and belonging to the overall process [ 5 ]. Patient participation and retention are very crucial in conducting successful orphan drug trials, especially in countries with limited patient populations. Collaboration across international centers, engagement with patient advocacy groups, involvement of specialist centers, and proper patient education by research staff is essential for successful participation [ 8 ].
Clinical trials face numerous challenges that hinder the timely delivery of promising treatments to patients. However, the use of real-world data (RWD) is emerging as a tool to improve the pace of therapy development. RWD, collected during routine patient care, patient-reported outcomes, handwritten notes, medical records, charts, electronic health records, registry data, and observer reports is gaining support from regulators and can be applied in three key use cases: synthetic control arms (SCAs) to replace or augment standard control arms in trials, precision registries for adaptive trial design, and clinical trial site feasibility to improve patient enrollment. SCAs based on a patient’s standard of care (SOC), in particular, offer an alternative to traditional control arms, which may be unethical in certain cases and help in the identification of endpoints that may vary based on the patient’s disease condition [ 37 ]. RWD also enables researchers to optimize study design, assess site feasibility based on patient demographic information of the site, collect more comprehensive and diverse data, and overcome challenges associated with data quality through the application of statistical methods and machine learning algorithms [ 38 ]. The integration of RWD in clinical trials holds promise for advancing the development of therapies by quantifying benefits or risks, thereby increasing the success probability and improving health outcomes for patients [ 23 ]. The key challenges lie in ensuring data quality, reliability, and interoperability. As many RWDs are extracted through electronic means there are chances of missing data points, and the quality of data may become compromised when merging with multiple other sources for analysis purposes. It is important to classify the data based on type and source and apply appropriate extraction and transformation procedures before they are analyzed for decision-making. To improve interoperability and to ensure data privacy, tokenizing clinical data will be helpful enabling intersystem operability, reliability of information, and availability and accessibility as and when needed [ 39 ]. RWD leads to the generation of appropriate RWEs that enable hybrid study methodologies combining the strengths of RCT studies with RWE such as RWE-RE (Real World Evidence-Randomized Enrichment design), mitigating limitations and potentially enhancing or replacing RCTs in many cases, thus providing a patient-centric approach towards statistical data analysis and supporting regulatory decision making [ 23 ].
Some steps taken by the International Council on Harmonization (ICH) are to update the E8 and E6 guidelines to include more flexible study designs and diverse data sources. This includes discussions on pragmatic study designs and guidance on using RWD in conjunction with or as a substitute for traditional data collection. The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research [ 40 ]–International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology [ 41 ] (ISPOR-ISPE) Special Task Force has also provided recommendations to enhance clinical study practices and improve the acceptance of RWE by regulatory authorities, emphasizing good practices, transparency, and overall study conduct [ 42 ]. As expertise grows, researchers, clinicians, and regulators are likely to adopt and apply these designs on a larger scale [ 22 ]. Since the publication of the Operational, Technical, and Methodological (OPTIMAL) framework in 2019, there certain initiatives to incorporate selective usage of RWE for informing regulatory decisions by EMA.
The development planning of rare disease trials necessitates a unique approach. Most of the companies still adhere to traditional clinical pharmacology approaches, which may not be as effective for rare diseases due to their unique characteristics and the small patient populations involved [ 43 , 44 ]. As a result, many companies are adopting the oncological approach, where the product is tested in Phase I, particularly in patients with high morbidity or mortality. This approach allows the enrolment of a substantial number of patients and enables early assessment of the product’s safety and efficacy. This further helps in the reduction of overall trial costs and helps in resource optimization [ 45 ]. The data findings facilitate Model Informed Drug Development (MIDD), to enable addressing gaps in pharmacological studies and provide sufficient clinical data to initiate later phases of trials. This helps in better clinical evaluation and facilitates dose adjustments as well as endpoint modifications across different patient subpopulations. This approach also ensures that high-risk patients are not subjected to exclusion based on randomization and receive the treatment as part of the standard of care procedures [ 44 , 45 ].
Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are integral to the development and distribution of treatments for rare diseases. These companies play a crucial role in optimizing logistics and leveraging expertise [ 46 ]. They often enter into commercial agreements with larger companies, facilitating initial developmental activities of the target therapy, performing an initial assessment of the product’s safety and efficacy, and transferring the same to larger entities for carrying out later activities. Through collaborative efforts, SMEs can access the resources and knowledge of larger companies, potentially accelerating the development and approval of treatments efficiently and effectively [ 47 , 48 ]. This collaborative model can help to overcome the challenges associated with developing treatments for rare diseases, facilitating reduced timelines, and optimizing the financial and resource burdens, ultimately benefiting patients who may not have access to these life-saving therapies otherwise [ 47 , 48 ].
Under the Seventh Framework Program (FP7), the European Union [ 2 ] funded three research projects to identify innovative trial designs for rare diseases. The challenges around small patient populations and heterogenous endpoints are recognized by researchers, industry, and regulators and these initiatives aimed to address these challenges and develop effective study methodologies and strategies to address these challenges. The studies aimed to improve the statistical methodology employed in trials involving a small number of patients through enhanced focus on the integration of trial design, conduct methodology, and outcomes and endpoint analysis. This approach ensures a comprehensive perspective and leads to refined methodologies that optimize the overall trial process [ 8 ]. The three projects have contributed to the implementation of study models and frameworks that are being increasingly adopted by researchers and sponsors to conduct rare disease clinical trials. Regulators have also shown increasing acceptance of novel methodologies and incorporating the findings in orphan drug approvals. More such initiatives focusing on specific therapeutic areas in coordination with ERNs will help in the development of other design methodologies that may address time criticality, can address endpoint adjustments, and modify the design based on continuous patient feedback. One key initiative that can be taken is a program similar to the Rare Disease Endpoint Advancement Program (RDEA) [ 49 ] by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This is a dedicated program to advance the development of endpoints for clinical trials in rare diseases. This can be an EC-funded program under the supervision of EMA in collaboration with researchers, sponsors, and other regulatory authorities focusing on identifying and creating innovative, meaningful, and reliable endpoints to effectively assess rare disease treatment effectiveness. The EC-funded projects are listed below in Table 2 :
The development of effective treatments for rare diseases remains a significant challenge due to the low prevalence and unique characteristics of these conditions. The challenges faced in clinical trials for orphan drugs in the EU are multifaceted and include patient recruitment, disease heterogeneity, limited knowledge of the natural history of rare diseases, lack of existing clinical study data, variability in disease characteristics, ethical considerations, cost challenges, and regulatory hurdles. Despite various financial incentives and grants extended to sponsors and researchers for rare disease research, all these challenges prove to be significant roadblocks in drug development as efficacy assessment becomes difficult due to the lack of test subjects and insufficient data that does not give enough evidence in favor of the medicine. Hence, close attention is required on an ongoing basis to address these issues. Due to the unique nature of rare diseases, there may not be a fit-for-all approach and traditional randomized trial methodologies prove ineffective in different settings. To mitigate these challenges, a few steps have been and can be taken, including the establishment of unified patient databases, PROMs, and RWE generation that has provided and has further potential to provide valuable information for drug development. Innovative approaches to clinical trial design, such as adaptive trial designs, basket and umbrella trials, and the use of real-world evidence, are being explored to address the challenges associated with rare disease trials. Apart from these, by embracing innovative approaches to drug development planning, utilizing external natural history study-based controls, using statistical modeling based on registry, standard of care, and natural history data, ensuring protocol flexibility, engaging patients, and incorporating RWD, researchers can overcome the unique challenges of rare disease trials and improve the development of effective therapies for patients with rare diseases. Continued collaboration between stakeholders, including researchers, clinicians, regulators, patient advocacy groups, and industry is required to foster continuous innovation and the proposed approaches aim to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and generalizability of clinical research in the context of rare disease patient populations.
All data used for analyzing the clinical trial landscape were accessed from the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) of the World Health Organization. The data and related information are publicly available at: https://trialsearch.who.int/ . All information generated during this study is presented and documented within the article itself. The data used and analyzed in the study is publicly available in Supplementary File 2. This includes all the necessary information and relevant data points used in the study.
Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use
Clinical Outcome Assessment
Decentralized Clinical Trial
Digital Health Technology
European Commission
European Joint Program on Rare Diseases (EJP-RD)
European Medicines Agency
European Rare Disease Registry Infrastructure
European Rare Disease Research Coordination and Support Action Consortium
European Reference Network
European Union
European Confederation of Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs
European Organization for Rare Diseases
International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use
International Rare Diseases Research Consortium
Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research–International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology
National Institute of Health
Operational, Technical, and Methodological Framework
Patient Reported Outcome Measures
Randomized Controlled Trial
Rare Disease Endpoint Advancement Program
Real World Data
Real World Evidence
Real World Evidence– Randomized Enrichment
Scientific Advice Working Party
Synthetic Control Arm
Standard of Care
US Food and Drug Administration
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Mishra, S., Venkatesh, M. Rare disease clinical trials in the European Union: navigating regulatory and clinical challenges. Orphanet J Rare Dis 19 , 285 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13023-024-03146-5
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Conducting a literature review involves using research databases to identify materials that cover or are related in some sense to the research topic. In some cases the research topic may be so original in its scope that no one has done anything exactly like it, so research that is at least similar or related will provide source material for the ...
Abstract. Performing a literature review is a critical first step in research to understanding the state-of-the-art and identifying gaps and challenges in the field. A systematic literature review is a method which sets out a series of steps to methodically organize the review. In this paper, we present a guide designed for researchers and in ...
As a piece of writing, the literature review must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g., your research objective, the problem or issue you are discussing, or your argumentative thesis). It is not just a descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries." Taylor, D. The literature review: A few tips on conducting it. University ...
Tips: Review the abstracts of research studies carefully. This will save you time. Write down the searches you conduct in each database so that you may duplicate them if you need to later (or avoid dead-end searches that you'd forgotten you'd already tried).; Use the bibliographies and references of research studies you find to locate others.
A literature review can be just a simple summary of the sources, but it usually has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis. A summary is a recap of the important information of the source, but a synthesis is a re-organization, or a reshuffling, of that information.
Literature reviews take time. Here is some general information to know before you start. VIDEO -- This video is a great overview of the entire process. (2020; North Carolina State University Libraries) --The transcript is included. --This is for everyone; ignore the mention of "graduate students". --9.5 minutes, and every second is important.
A literature review, also called a review article or review of literature, surveys the existing research on a topic. ... Steps for Writing a Literature Review. 1. Identify and define the topic that you will be reviewing. ... Conduct a Literature Search. Use a range of keywords to search databases such as PsycINFO and any others that may contain ...
lls the reader, and why it is necessary.3.2 Evaluate the nine basic steps taken to wr. te a well-constructed literature review.3.3 Conduct an electronic search using terms, phrases, Boolean operators, and filters.3.4 Evaluate and identify the parts of an empirical research journal article, and use that kn.
In writing the literature review, your purpose is to convey to your reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. As a piece of writing, the literature review must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g., your research objective, the problem or issue you are discussing, or your ...
The Literature Review portion of a scholarly article is usually close to the beginning. It often follows the introduction, or may be combined with the introduction.The writer may discuss his or her research question first, or may choose to explain it while surveying previous literature.. If you are lucky, there will be a section heading that includes "literature review".
Step 3: Critically analyze the literature. Key to your literature review is a critical analysis of the literature collected around your topic. The analysis will explore relationships, major themes, and any critical gaps in the research expressed in the work. Read and summarize each source with an eye toward analyzing authority, currency ...
The main objectives of this chapter are fourfold: (a) to provide an overview of the major steps and activities involved in conducting a stand-alone literature review; (b) to describe and contrast the different types of review articles that can contribute to the eHealth knowledge base; (c) to illustrate each review type with one or two examples ...
In order to understand your topic, before you conduct your research, it is extremely important to immerse yourself in the research that has been done on your topic and the topics that might be adjacent to your particular research interest or questions. "a researcher cannot perform significant research without first understanding the literature in the field" (Boote & Beile, 2005, p. 3).
Literature reviews establish the foundation of academic inquires. However, in the planning field, we lack rigorous systematic reviews. In this article, through a systematic search on the methodology of literature review, we categorize a typology of literature reviews, discuss steps in conducting a systematic literature review, and provide suggestions on how to enhance rigor in literature ...
Since the literature review forms the backbone of your research, writing a clear and thorough review is essential. The steps below will help you do so: 1. Search for relevant information and findings. In research, information published on a given subject is called "literature" or "background literature.".
CONDUCTING YOUR LITERATURE REVIEW. 6. produce a reliable and unbiased summary of the existing research. This book will walk you through those steps one by one. Each chapter targets a specific part or stage in the literature review. Throughout this book, the elements and reporting structure of a systematic review serve as a framework for ...
• Writing the review • References literature {Table 2). The first step involves identifying the subject ofthe literature review. The researcher undertaking a quantitative study may have decided this already. However, for the individual undertaking a non-research based literature review this will be the first step. Selecting a review topic
Ideally, a literature review should not identify as a major research gap an issue that has just been addressed in a series of papers ... West CP (2012) Conducting systematic reviews in medical education: a stepwise approach ... (2008) The literature review: a step-by-step guide for students. London: SAGE. 22. Kelleher C, Wagener T (2011) Ten ...
Conducting a literature review . Conducting a literature review is an essential step in research that involves reviewing and analyzing existing literature on a specific topic. It's important to know how to do a literature review effectively, so here are the steps to follow: 1 . Choose a Topic and Define the Research Question:
When seeking information for a literature review or for any purpose, it helps to understand information-seeking as a process that you can follow. 5 Each of the six (6) steps has its own section in this web page with more detail. Do (and re-do) the following six steps: 1. Define your topic.
Describe the rationale for the review in the context of what is already known. Explain why the review questions or objectives lend themselves to a scoping review approach. PRISMA-ScR . This step outlines the overarching goals of the scoping review. It explains the rationale behind conducting the review and what the reviewers aim to achieve.
Method details Overview. A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) is a research methodology to collect, identify, and critically analyze the available research studies (e.g., articles, conference proceedings, books, dissertations) through a systematic procedure [12].An SLR updates the reader with current literature about a subject [6].The goal is to review critical points of current knowledge on a ...
This study employs a review of various literature types encompassing review papers, concept papers, points of view, empirical researchers, policy guidelines, and expert reviews to explore the challenges faced by researchers in conducting rare disease trials in the EU as well as patient perspectives, and regulatory hurdles.