ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to appreciate the role of the literature review in the research process. It examines literature search and literature review. The chapter details skills to critically review research literature. The main corpus of the literature lies within academic and professional journals. A literature review reflects an author’s knowledge and interpretation of the area of interest. It has a reference section that lists the individual pieces of work referred to in the review. Searching requires a trip to a medical library and, in the early stages, the assistance of a librarian is particularly helpful. The literature yield from searching is likely to be of variable relevance and quality. The chapter provides an overview of how and where research findings are published. There are basically two main types of journal: research journals and professional journals. Theses and dissertations are very detailed and comprehensive accounts of research work.
