journal article review

journal article review

The Importance of Journal Article Reviews

1. Introduction

Atul, J.S et al. (2005) Can new environment and activity improve cognitive health in old age? In a randomized controlled trial with healthy seniors. In Aging and Mental Health, Vol 9 (119-123). This is an example of an abstract with an empirical research article following, it discusses a study that evaluates mental change and cognitive ability in older people affected by a new environment and physical activity. The experiment mentions results of cognitive status among old people would be improved by changes in environment and activity. Empirical research articles provide a method for finding out information and testing old or generating new information. This could be a valuable approach as it has been able to influence older adults’ mental well-being through environment alterations and can be an article that future case-studies aiming to explore particular environments can refer to.

Chappell, R. J. A. (2008) Ageing in Place: Is it a special case? In International Journal of Ageing and Later Life. Vol 3 (80-101). This is an editorial review article of different journals, showing that Chappell has taken a critical approach to reviewing journal articles on a specific topic. The review article as a form of qualitative research can evaluate and interpret the current literature on a specific topic, identifying and summarizing key findings, concepts, and conclusions in the topic area (3). This is an important approach as it identifies and interprets information from various resources to enhance a deeper understanding of a specific topic.

There are many ways to study the relational experiences of individuals and their environments. An approach that can be taken is a qualitative research involving case studies. This kind of research aims at exploring and understanding the individual person or a defined situation, such as an older person and their experience in ageing within different societal environments (1). This particular approach is taken by Chappell, R.J. in their case-study involving an 82-year-old man named Bert and his journey through old age in the community and residential housing. The use of case-studies can be specific and detailed in nature and Chappell uses Bert as an example of an older person and investigates the different environments he interacts with to identify facilitators and inhibitors on healthful aging (2).

2. Methodology

The breakthrough to the more comprehensive approach came with a visit to the rare book room of the University of Illinois library. I was richly rewarded in finding an excellent text by E. De Macchi, published by Ulrico Hoepli, Milano and written in 1906, that combined elements of what I had found in the secondary sources with more of the primary source evidence that I had been seeking.

To search for material, I went to the Sherman Art Library and to the stacks of the main library of the UIUC campus and pulled books at random from the more than 500 volumes listed in the card catalogue under “Chiaroscuro.” From these 27 volumes that I selected, I found material that gave me a satisfying beginning to the research, still not the comprehensive approach I sketched out during those summer days.

The aim of this article is to present to the reader a comprehensive history and analysis of relievo dancing shades of the Renaissance that will serve as a foundation for the discussion of more anecdotal evidence of shading practices in works of art by individual artists. However, before beginning an examination of specific works of art, we must first consider the basic principles and techniques involved with the manipulation of light and dark to create the illusion of solid forms on a flat surface. A discussion of this sort might best be attempted in a scientific treatise. But because there is still much disagreement about methods, as well as a certain amount of misunderstanding and ignorance, I feel the need to present all of the basic evidence and questions about the formative period of the development. I will attempt to remain analytical and objective, avoiding value judgments as much as possible.

3. Analysis of Findings

It is often said and it has been acknowledged that one of the most challenging aspects of research from primary studies is finding and integrating the findings from different studies in order to understand what has happened and why, to help inform decisions and to develop evidence-based practice. Meta-ethnography is a 7-phase process for achieving this which was developed by Noblit and Hare in the 1980s. This is a specific approach to qualitative evidence synthesis which is interpretive and is used to glean fresh insights, it can be used alone or in conjunction with reviews of published research. This approach has been used to make sense of complex and conflicting findings in medical research and has been used as a means of synthesizing the best available evidence on a public health issue (Campbell and Ritz, 2005). Meta-ethnography is well grounded in hermeneutic and interpretive theory and is a process of translating, interpreting and synthesizing studies in order to go beyond simply aggregating findings to build theory (Crosby, Freeman, and Henward, 2004). This approach is useful to identify paradigm conflicts which can be a light bulb moment in understanding a phenomenon. An example of how meta-ethnography can help accumulate a body of knowledge comes from a recent piece of research which explored patients’ experiences of breathlessness and the nurses’ response to it. This was a maladaptive phenomenon in which patients were not receiving appropriate help from healthcare professionals. The meta-ethnography was able to translate and interpret the different studies into the patient and nurse’s perspective and was able to develop a theoretical model explaining how patients’ self-management efforts were being undermined by the behavior of healthcare professionals.

Once articles have been identified and gathered in relation to the research question, the important task of critically reviewing them begins. This process can be time consuming but has been identified as important and an essential step for the qualitative researcher to include. A systematic approach to retrieving, reviewing, summarizing and synthesizing research materials can help the research process and the quality of the output. A quality review of the literature should be based on thorough reading and the understanding of the papers. This can then be followed up with annotations, which will assist the researcher in identifying key points in the papers making it easier to refer back to the specific location and the context of the study. After annotating the articles, the researcher should then be able to create a summary of the key points of each article in relation to the research question. This can then make it clearer for the researcher whether or not the article will be of use to the study. May require more work here. A qualitative review is described as a process of reading and interpreting research articles in order to determine the credibility of the findings, use them to build theory and inform practice (Crosby, Freeman, and Henward, 2004). This is a complex process and is not always formalized. An approach that is often used by experienced researchers is to constantly compare articles looking for areas of agreement and disagreement to help establish tentative lines of argument and theory building. An effective and reproducible method to do this is thematic analysis. This is a method of identifying, analyzing and reporting patterns (themes) within the data (Boyatzis, 1998).

4. Discussion and Implications

Discussion of a study’s findings has two main objectives. Firstly, it indicates how substantial the results are; on this dimension, journal article reviews are comparable with articles. This is an important consideration given the growth in the range of types of reviews. Secondly, the discussion should provide specific implications of the results; usually this is the most useful section of the review. If the results have not been confirmed, it is recommended to leave the discussion at that. A comparison of the results of the same or similar experiments can also be useful (to indicate a work’s repeatability), and should be done in a separate section if the paper is short. To demonstrate these points, I will now discuss the study by Law et al. This work aimed to investigate a possible method of preventing seat belt injuries to the chest wall, and the ensuing fracture of the ribs. It was conducted with an anthropometric chest model and a three-point seat belt testing rig. Static and dynamic testing was performed on the model with varied seat belt anchor points in order to best simulate a real-life scenario. These tests were performed to determine the injury posture and is the topic of phase one of their study. Static tests were performed at the sites of 4th, 5th, and 6th sternocostosternal junctions in the anterolateral chest. Here it was found that the sternal fracture of the type observed in many automobile accidents was not possible to achieve. It must be inferred that Law et al. believed that the sternal fracture is an unfavorable injury and hence would not aim to replicate a sternal break in a dynamic test. 50% of sternal body fractures at the manubriosternal joint have associated rib fractures and paradoxically, the remaining 50% have no rib injuries. A further £1M research into sternal fractures and their associated injuries would have been carried out if it was identified that there was potential for static type injury to the sternocostosternal junction. This is interesting as they have identified an associated injury to the chest wall with no further knowledge of its mechanism. This can be a topic for Law et al.’s future research. Phase two of their study involved simulation of a lateral belt loading onto the chest model over the sternocostosternal, mimicking the modern-day seatbelt with shoulder strap having rendered the previous two-point lap belt impractical. This has been done in an attempt to reduce abdominal injuries related to the shoulder strap loading forces. Static and dynamic tests were performed on various parts of the chest model, the injury posture was well defined but the results of this phase were not entirely clear.

5. Conclusion

APN students are not sole learners; they all come from different professions such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, pharmacy, and nursing. With so much new terminology and jargon involved in research, this can be daunting for some to grasp all the concepts. This article attempts to critically review a research article to help a wider audience of APN students develop a greater understanding of qualitative research. By offering a scenario of questions based on research, it is an effective way to approach different learning styles and also address different solutions to a posed problem. This type of exercise clarifies concepts by relating them back to the scenario and will be useful for students unfamiliar with terminology in their given profession.

In order to achieve the best evidence for APNs, they will need to learn how to appraise research to find the best evidence and thus improve their practice. The following article tries to give APN students an understanding of how to appraise qualitative research by using a Research Qualitative Review Framework provided by Munday (2001). By appraising what is considered to be a qualitative research article using a generic framework, it can help students begin to unravel the complexities of research and start to understand the more intricate details involved in a research study.

Despite the recent increase in published material, namely social science journal articles, it is still difficult to identify an appropriate research study, one that is both pertinent to the topic of interest and is conducted well. Being able to critique a research article is a daunting task which can be learnt over time. It involves an understanding of: a. The research process b. The constructs and variables being studied c. The analysis and interpretation of data d. The application of the study to the APN practice.