Scholarship Development Series Part I: Writing a Review of the Literature

As part of National Association of Hispanic Nurses’ Strategic Plan, our organization focuses on the development of scholarship in our members. Scholarship is what moves nursing science forward and includes not only research but also teaching/education and clinical practice. Part of scholarship is identifying what is in the literature or what is the “evidence” which is detrimental to identifying the best practices for our Latino communities. This article is part of a scholarship development series that will run in Hispanic Health Care International. The purpose of this first article is to provide a background on how to conduct a review of the literature. The objectives of the article are to (1) define what a review of the literature is, (2) discuss various types of review articles that can be used for research, practice, or education, (3) identify the process of synthesizing evidence, (4) present standardized formats that can be used in writing a review, and (5) provide steps to begin the process of writing a review.