Evidence-Based Practice for Nurses

practice procedures, initial time spent orienting with an expert about these

systems is worthwhile. Just as nursing faculty are subject content experts,

librarians are searching and system experts.

1. Learning to perform a quality literature review is essential for which of the following
   reasons? (Select all that apply.)
   a. Lays the foundation for writing quality undergraduate academic papers
   b. Identifies gaps in current research
   c. Provides the basis for making best practice decisions
   d. Develops skills necessary for lifelong learning
   True/False


2. All sources retrieved from the Internet are applicable to EBP.


3. Access to computers and technical resources is critical to link research to EBP.


4. Librarians are searching and system experts.


5. All useful resources on the Web are free and accessible to all.

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE 4-1

How did you do? 1. a, b, c, d; 2. F; 3. T; 4. T; 5. F

4.2 Types of Evidence

At the end of this section, you will be able to:

‹ Explain the scientific literature publication cycle

‹ Differentiate between primary and secondary sources

‹ Identify different types of articles found in the literature

‹ Characterize the four major types of reviews

Not all information is created equal, nor is it presented in the same manner.

Being able to identify various types of information and sources is fundamental

to starting a successful literature review search.

Scientific Literature Publication Cycle

It is helpful first to consider the scientific literature publication cycle to make

searching easier (University of Washington Libraries, 1999). As shown in

Figure 4-1, the cycle generally begins with the idea and the research itself,

which is available only informally through raw data reports, grant proposals,

KEY TERM

scientific literature

publication cycle:

A model

describing how

research becomes

disseminated in

publications

96 CHAPTER 4 Finding Sources of Evidence