Are you diving into a literature review, only to feel overwhelmed by the vast ocean of information?

In clinical research, learning is crucial, but application is what truly counts.

Many budding researchers spend countless hours gathering information, yet they falter when it’s time to do the one thing that truly matters: writing their manuscript.

Here’s the secret: learn as you build.

Here’s how you can implement this approach while writing a literature review:

1. Start Small

Choose three pivotal papers from different research groups in your area of interest. These papers will lay the foundation of your study and provide diverse perspectives on the topic.

If you’re considering writing a literature review, you likely already have one key paper on the topic. Ideally, this first paper should be a literature review on a similar topic published in a reputable journal.

Now, find two additional papers to get started. These can be reviews (with a different perspective) or original papers. You can discover these through keyword search or AI-based search. These three starting papers should overlap somewhat but also offer unique insights.

Let me explain with an example. When I wrote an invited review for “psoriatic arthritis and cardiometabolic disease” (published in 2021), I began with three review papers by Sobchak, Ferguson, and Puig. These papers, authored by different groups, provided varied perspectives on the same topic.

2. Draft a Manuscript Outline

Based on these three papers, create a detailed outline for your literature review. This structure will guide your research and writing process. It will serve as your roadmap.

Instead of searching the literature aimlessly, hoping for insights, you’ll now look for specific papers to strengthen your outline.

3. Expand Thoughtfully

Use your outline to identify gaps and expand your literature review with targeted searches, whether through traditional keyword methods or AI-powered tools.

For example, if you need more information on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in psoriatic arthritis, perform further literature review on this subtopic. Again, use the same process: find 3 research papers using the steps I described above. If you discover gaps within the subtopic after writing more, conduct additional reviews.

OLD WAY: Conduct a thorough literature review for weeks (or months), often leading to burnout.

NEW WAY: Build your research as you learn, integrating knowledge into actionable steps.

Remember, writing a literature review isn’t about hoarding information; it’s about providing your unique perspective on the topic using existing literature.

Instead of shouldering the massive task of reviewing all the literature: Start small. Work step by step.

I use a similar approach for writing the discussion section of original research or any paper. It’s a slightly modified version of this, and I plan to cover this in the coming weeks.

That’s it for today. See you next week!

PS: Thank you to Dr. Laiba Sajjad for asking about this important topic.