By Shawn Kennedy, AJN editor-in-chief
As I explain in this month’s editorial, we’ve seen an increase in submissions, especially literature reviews, many from students in doctoral programs and from clinicians in organizations pursuing Magnet status. Many purport to be systematic reviews but lack many of the defining features, such as detail about search strategies or real synthesis of the results. This lack of knowledge around writing scholarly works reflects poorly on us as a profession.
We are very pleased to be collaborating with the Joanna Briggs Institute, the Australia-based group (they are at the University of Adelaide) with an expertise in appraising and synthesizing research and facilitating its dissemination and use. We launch a new series, Systematic Reviews, Step By Step, in the March issue. As our Evidence-Based Practice, Step-By-Step series does for applying evidence-based practice, this series presents a clear, progressive plan for writing a systematic review in several monthly installments.
The first article is written by Edoardo Aromataris, the director of synthesis science at the Joanna Briggs Institute in the School of Translational Health Science, University of Adelaide, South Australia, and Alan Pearson, the former executive director and founder of the Joanna Briggs Institute. It provides an overview of the series and provides a synopsis of the systematic review as a scientific exercise, one that has the ability to influence health care decisions.
So if you’re thinking of writing a review in the near future, start reading now.
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