Guidelines for a review paper

For those of you considering a review paper as a option instead of a thesis here are the guidelines for SDSU:

The comprehensive examination in health promotion is offered as an alternative to the masters thesis. The purpose of both the thesis and the comprehensive examination is for the student to demonstrate his or her general analytical skills in the field of health promotion as well as specific knowledge related to a topic area of special interest. Both the thesis and the comprehensive examination students select a specific topic to be studied in more depth, in conjunction with their advisors. Both the thesis and the comprehensive review paper are written in roughly the same format, going from the very broad introduction to more focused methods or review of specific studies, and ending with a broader discussion of the results of the present effort. This “hour glass” flow is depicted in Figure 1. The difference, of course, in the comprehensive examination and thesis research is in the specific nature of the investigation. Thesis students develop a specific hypothesis and methods for examining that hypothesis. They then proceed to process and analyze data using their statistical skills and discuss their own results at the end of their thesis. In contrast, comprehensive review paper authors focus their energies on “library time”, reading and critically analyzing what other people have reported in a specific area of inquiry. They begin with a general discussion of an issue and proceed to examine specific studies that have addressed that issue. This is followed by a critical evaluation of these studies and/or an explication of a common thread that ties these studies together as well as an honest appraisal of what has not been done in a specific area. Copies of exemplar comprehensive review papers written by former students that demonstrate the style and approach that you may consider for your paper are referenced below.

There is no single variable on which to base your decision as to whether to take the thesis or review paper option. Since the review paper option was developed several years ago, less than 20% of the health promotion graduates have selected it. The thesis requires more data processing and statistical analyses and somewhat less exhaustive review of the literature. The review paper author also needs to have a sufficient knowledge of statistics to be able to critically analyze others research. It is possible that the thesis option may prepare a student better to go on the to doctoral work, through the experience and the potential for publication gained by doing a thesis. However, previous review paper authors have produced highly polished and publishable works, and have included in their numbers physicians and Ph.Ds. Both options require an extensive amount of work, broad as well as in-depth knowledge related to the field of health promotion, and the careful selection on a topic area to fit career interest and goals.

The specific steps in developing the review paper are as follows:

1. Discuss with your advisor whether the thesis or comprehensive review paper is most appropriate for you, and brainstorm possible areas.

2. Identify a topic of interest to you related to the field of health promotion. This topic may be specific to populations (e.g. Latino women), target behaviors or health issues (e.g. cancer and diet; family planning), health promotion techniques (e.g. social marketing, training, contingency management) and/or other relevant issues (e.g. a review of the state of the art in training future health promotion professionals).

3. Your advisor will select and arrange for one other health promotion faculty member who will serve as the other “blinded” referee (grader) for your review paper.

4. Begin collecting literature and writing your review paper.

5. Submit your first draft to your advisor, who will give you general feedback as to what changes need to be made before it is ready to be evaluated by both the advisor and the second grader.

6. Submit one labeled final copy to your advisor and another “unmarked” copy for the grader on medium to high quality paper. Print the manuscript double-spaced. In other ways, follow the guidelines set forth in the thesis manual for authors of masters thesis. While no rigid sets of rules apply to formatting the comprehensive review paper, the author should be aware that writing style and printing quality can be as important as the actual content of the paper in creating an impression of professionalism.

7. After your manuscript evaluation the “blinded” faculty grader and your advisor will give

you a “pass”, “redo”, or “fail”. If you receive a “redo” the changes could take anywhere from a few hours to a week or more depending on how extensive. If necessary changes are too extensive, the faculty will give you a “fail” and allow you an opportunity to try one more time in the subsequent semester.

8. Those of you planning a specific deadline for graduation should keep these guidelines in

mind. The reader is generally given two weeks to review your manuscript, unless it is finals week or during the summer. Don't plan on your final draft always being acceptable to the advisor, there may be changes required before submitting to the “blind” reviewer.

In short, reviews should make clear the needed areas of new research; they should be well-grounded in theory; they should recommend “best advice” for P.H. interventions -in the context of the research state-of-the-art. Reviews should not be a simple listings/summary of numerous studies concerning a given topic. The comprehensive examination allows you the opportunity not only to show your knowledge in the general field of health promotion but also master a specific topic of interest to you and importance to the field. Hopefully, it will prove a rewarding experience.

References

Example: Elder & Estey, Social Science & Medicine, 1992, 35, 1065-76, and

Wilmoth & Elder, Soc Sci & Med, 1995, 1-15.

Manual for writing literature reviews: Writing literature reviews: A guide for students of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, Joseph L. Galvan. ISBN 1-884585-18-3