Sources of Literature

• Literature can be reviewed from two main sources:

1. Primary Sources.
2. Secondary Sources

• However literature review mostly relies on primary source.

Primary Sources:
• Primary sources are original, peer reviewed, and published research
journal articles reported by original researchers.

• In other words, primary sources are the research reports, which are
description of studies written by researchers who conducted them.

• A primary source is written by a person who developed the theory or

conducted the research, or is the description of an investigation
written by the person who conducted it.
• Most primary sources are found in published literature.

• A credible literature review reflects the use of mainly primary

sources.

• Example of a primary source:

• Awawdeh, Lama & al-Qudah, Aladdin & Hammouri, Hanan & Chakra,
Rosalie. (2018). Outcomes of Vital Pulp Therapy Using Mineral Trioxide
Aggregate or Biodentine: A Prospective Randomized Clinical Trial. Journal of
Endodontics. 44. 10.1016/j.joen.2018.08.004.
Secondary Sources:
• Secondary source research documents are description of studies prepared by
someone other than the original researcher.

• They are written by people other than the individuals who developed the theory or
conducted the research.

• The secondary sources include the comments and summaries of multiple research
studies on one topic, e.g. systemic reviews, meta- analysis, meta synthesis, etc.

• Secondary sources are usually paraphrased and may be based on the secondary
author’s interpretation of the primary work; it is necessary then to review primary
source whenever possible to ensure accuracy.
• However the secondary sources may be used when primary sources
are not available or if researchers want external opinions on an issue
or problem or even the results of their own research.

• Example of a secondary source:

• Chen, Y., Chen, X., Zhang, Y. et al. Materials for pulpotomy in immature
permanent teeth: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Oral
Health 19, 227 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903-019-0917-z
• Main sources of ROL:
• Electronic sources
• MEDLINE through PubMed
• EMBASE
• EBSCO Discovery Service
• Cochrane Library - Cochrane Reviews
• ERIC
• Dissertation abstracts online
• Online Journals
• Other online databases
• Printed Sources
• Grey Literature
Electronic sources
• Computer assisted literature search has revolutionized the review of literature.

• These searches, however, for a variety of reasons may not provide the desired
references.

• Electronic literature search through web may be very useful but sometimes it is
time consuming and unpredictable because there are many website & web
pages that can lead to information overload and confusion.

• However currently it is one of the most important sources of literature

searches.
MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis &
Retrieved System Online)
• It is another electronic source of literature review commonly used by
nurses.

• The National Library of Medicine provides free access to MEDLINE

through PubMed, available at www.pubmed.com or
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/

• Generally, abstracts of research articles are provided free of cost;

some of the full text copies are also freely available and some others
are available for a fee.
EMBASE (Excerpta Medica Database)
• Embase is a biomedical and pharmacological bibliographic
database of published literature designed to support information
managers and pharmacovigilance in complying with the regulatory
requirements of a licensed drug.

• https://www.embase.com/
EBSCO Discovery Service
• EBSCO is a provider of research databases, e-journal and e-package
subscription management, book collection development and
acquisition management, and a major provider of library
technology, e-books and clinical decision solutions for universities,
colleges, hospitals, corporations, government, and public libraries
worldwide.

• https://www.ebsco.com/
Cochrane Library - Cochrane Reviews
• The Cochrane Library is a collection of databases in medicine and
other healthcare specialties provided by Cochrane and other
organizations.

• At its core is the collection of Cochrane Reviews, a database of

systematic reviews and meta-analyses which summarize and
interpret the results of medical research.

• http://www.cochrane.org/
ERIC
• ERIC is an online library of education research and information,
sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S.
Department of Education.

• ERIC databse is the largest source of education information.

• A free search may be carried out at http://www.eric.ed.gov/

Dissertation abstracts online
• Abstracts of master’s and doctoral these are available on this
electronic database.
Online Journals
• Online journal articles are a specialized form of electronic document.

• They have the purpose of providing material for academic research and
study, and they are formatted approximately like journal articles in
traditional printed journals.

• Often a journal article will be available for download in two formats – as

a PDF and in HTML format, although other electronic file types are often
supported for supplementary material.

• Articles are indexed in bibliographic databases, as well as by search

engines.
Online Journals
• There are several national & international journals that can be used to review the
research related literature.

• A subset of these journals exist as Open Access titles, meaning that they are free
to access for all, and have Creative Commons licenses which permit the
reproduction of content in different ways.

• High quality open access journals are listed in Directory of Open Access Journals.

• Most however continue to exist as subscription journals, for which libraries,

organizations and individuals purchase access.
Other online databases
• Many other online database can be searched for free by nurses from
the various websites like:
• http://www.aidsinfo.nih.gov
• http://www.hazmap.nlm.nih.gov
• http://www.child.nih.gov
• http://www.toxinet.nlm.nih.gov
Printed Sources
• Printed Sources are also used for literature review.

• Printed research summary may be located from published

abstracts, such as Dental research abstract, Psychological abstracts,
dissertation abstract international, etc.
Grey Literature
•Grey literature is anything that is published, but not by traditional or commercial
means.

•It was defined at the Luxembourg Convention in 1997 as "that which is produced on all
levels of government, academics, business and industry in print and electronic formats,
but which is not controlled by commercial publishers“.

• There are many important documents related to dental topics that can be classified
as grey literature.

• These include reports related to policy, public health, practice guidelines, ethics, best
practices, evidence summaries, etc., which are not published in a traditional format.
• Conference proceedings, practice guidelines, and early reports on clinical trials
and studies are some examples that are found through grey literature sources.

• If you are planning to conduct a comprehensive search on a topic, or if your topic

is related to social issues, policy, public health, or other topics that you suspect
include non-commercial publications, you should consider searching grey
literature sources.

• In addition, there can be data and statistics related to dentistry that are valuable
when making evidence-based decisions. Examples are data gathered from
national or local surveys, such as the Canadian Health Measures Survey, or
locally generated oral health related statistics.