The Structure of an

Article

Cameil Wilson-Clarke
College of Health Sciences, School of Pharmacy
Literature Analysis, Pharm.D. 2010 Sem 1
THE PRIMARY LITERATURE :
 Literature Evaluation:
Develop an Expertise

 You are the Drug Expert

 Reshape Your Reading Habits
 Develop the Skills
 Continue to Use the Skills
 Join a Journal Club
Primary Literature:
Where to Begin?

 Identify Your Intent

 Identify Key Journals which Publish in
your area of interest
 Scan - Tables of Contents
 Subscribe to: On- Line News Services
 Identify Articles which affect your
practice
 Consider the Author(s)

 Number of Authors
 Experience of Authors
 Previous Publications of Authors
 Affiliation of Authors
 Consider the Journal

 Appropriate Journal for Article?

 What is the Audience of the Journal?
 Peer Reviewed?
 Referees Blinded or Not Blinded?
 Timeliness of Publication
 Supplement/ Sponsored Publication?
 The Title

 Is it clear?
 Is it concise?
 Does it accurately reflect the body of the
publication?
 The Abstract

 Roadmap of the article

 Clear, Concise
 Can stand alone
 Free- form vs. Structured abstracts
 Abstract length set by journal
 The Abstract Includes:
 Objectives
 Research Design
 Setting
 Participants
 Interventions
 Main Outcome Measurements
 Results
 Conclusions
 The Abstract cont’d
 Data Must be Consistent with Full Text
 Highlights the Study Results
 Includes a Statement of Significance
 May Bias the Reader’s Opinion
 Useful and Timesaving
 The Introduction
 Reviews the subject and current literature
 Reveals the importance and need for
publication
 Clearly and concisely states purpose
 Guides the reader to the hypothesis
 The Methods: Part I
 Most important section of article
 Nuts and Bolts of article
 Study design correctly & clearly stated
 Setting described
 Reveals format for patient selection
• Inclusion Criteria Identified and Defined
• Exclusion Criteria Identified and Defined
• Random, Consecutive, Volunteer, or Convenience
Sampling
 The Methods: Part II
 Description of sample size required &
method for its determination
 Fully describes all interventions
 Describes data collecting techniques
 Includes statistical analysis methodology
 Description permits the reader to assess
study validity
 The Discussion: Part I
 Includes clear & supported conclusions
and result interpretation
 Addresses statistical significance,
Applicability and generalizability, & the
importance of findings
 Compares results with those of other
similar studies
 The Discussion: Part I cont’d

 Discusses Statistical vs. Clinical

significance
 Identifies limitations
 Mentions the need for further study
 The Discussion: Part II
 Closely scrutinize for:
• Biased language
• Biased interpretation of other research
• The regrouping of results retrospectively
• Errors in numerical significance
• Inappropriate conclusion
 References

 Provide evidence that the work of others

has been considered
 Completeness of references
 Current references considered
 Useful for literature search
 Examples of Primary
Literature

 American Journal of Health-System

Pharmacy
 The Annals of Pharmacotherapy
 Clinical Pharmacokinetics
 Drug Information Journal
 FDA Medical Bulletin
THE SECONDARY
LITERATURE
 The Secondary Literature
 Consists of indexing and abstracting
services of the primary literature
• An indexing system provides only
bibliographic information that is indexed by
topic

• On the other hand, an abstracting service

provides a brief description of information
contained in a specific citation
 Secondary Resource
• Mostly provide access to 1o literature
• Offers for more thorough info retrevial
• Each covers different
– Meeting abstracts
– Newsletters
– Textbooks
– Biomedical journals
– Other publications etc.
 Cost Factor
• Estimated from $ 500 to……
• Most systems are available via online
vendors or in CD-ROM format
• Training usu provided on use of systems
 Examples
• Embase
• IPA
• Medline
TERTIARY LITERATURE
 Tertiary Literature
• Sometimes referred to as general lit
• Consists of textbooks, compendia & full-
text computer databases
• Review articles are sometimes classified
• Commonly used sources of information
 Disadvantages of Tertiary
Literature
• Incomplete information
• Not timely
– Lag time
– Published date
• Human Bias
• Errors in transcription
• Incorrect interpretation of research
• Lack of expertise by the author
 Sources
• http://www.aacp.org/Resources/References
/Basic_Resources/basic_resources.html
• Available as hardcopy
• Microfiche, computerized versions
• Palm top computers
• Personal Data assistant (PDA)
Examples of Tertiary Resources
• Red Book
• Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference
• British National Formulary
• Clinical Reference Library: Lexi-Comp
• Drugdex Information Systems:
Micromedex