How to write an extensive review of literature?

1. Make sure that the subject is a novelty in the field or that new contributions have
been brought to the domain recently.
2. Establish key words for the thematic for example Beneficial role of SGLT-2 inhibitors
in kidney disease in diabetic patients the key words are diabetes mellitus, SGLT-2
inhibitors, kidney disease
3. Search articles in Pubmed database or any other international database that you

have access to by introducing the multiple key words with AND between them
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/advanced/
4. Select recent articles from the last 2-3 years, do not select old articles this will be a
motive for article rejection
5. Use the PRISMA DIAGRAM eliminate duplicate articles, eliminate articles that do you
cannot access the full text, eliminate articles not eligible for the thematic.

Image source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK555520/bin/appaf1.jpg

http://prisma-statement.org/prismastatement/flowdiagram.aspx

6. Structure your review in introduction, methodology, chapters, novel perspectives and

conclusions
7. Introduction – state the importance of the subject and the purpose of the article
8. Methodology – state which were the key words, how many articles you have
searched, how many articles you have eliminated, how many articles remained to
write the review, you can add the PRISMA DIAGRAM here that presents the study
flow-chart
9. Structure the chapters for example
 Chapter 1. Prevalence of kidney disease in diabetes patients
 Chapter 2. Effects of SGLT-2 on glomerular filtration, tubular resorption,
 Chapter 3. Evidence from clinical trails of SGLT-2 beneficial effects,
 Chapter 4. Future directions for research
10. In chapters where you analyse clinical trials you can do a table to summarize them, it
will look very good

Study name Nr of Study Inclusion of Outcome Reference

patients duration patients
with CKD
DECLARE- 1265 4 years GFR>60ml/min P<0.01 Study bibliography added
TIMI renal at the end
composite Wiviott S.D., et al.
outcome Dapagliflozin and
cardiovascular outcomes
in type 2 diabetes. N.
Engl. J. Med.
2019;380:347–357. doi:
10.1056/NEJMoa1812389
11. In chapter where physiological aspects are presented you can do a graphical scheme,
it will improve the graphical impact of your study
12. Formulate a detailed conclusion