Review Article Preparation

GUIDELINES FOR WRITING A REVIEW ARTICLE

What is a review article?

  • A critical, constructive analysis of the literature in a specific field through summary, classification, analysis, comparison.
  • A scientific text relying on previously published literature or data. New data from the author’s experiments are not presented (with exceptions: some reviews contain new data).
  • A stand-alone publication. Literature reviews as integral parts of master theses, doctoral theses or grant proposals will not be considered here. However, many tips in this guideline are transferable to these text types.

 The function of a review article

  • To organize literature
  • To evaluate literature
  • To identify patterns and trends in the literature
  • To synthesize literature
  • To identify research gaps and recommend new research areas

 Types of review articles

       Types by methodological approach

  • Narrative review. Selected studies are compared and summarized on the basis of the author’s experience, existing theories and models. Results are based on a qualitative rather than a quantitative level.
  • A best-evidence review. A focus on selected studies is combined with systematic methods of study-selection and result exploration.
  • Systematic review. Findings from various individual studies are analyzed statistically by strict procedures. Meta-Analyses are used to pool the results of individual studies.

       Types by objective

  • Status quo review. Presentation of the most current research for a given topic or field of research.
  • History review. Development of a field of research over time.
  • Issue review. Investigation of an issue (i.e. a point of disagreement or a question) in a specific field of research.
  • Theory/model review. Introduction of a new theory or model in a specific field of research.

       Types by mandate

  • Invited reviews: experienced researchers are invited
  • Commissioned reviews: formal contracts of authors with clients
  • Unsolicited submissions: researchers develop an idea for a review and submit it to journal editors

Length of review article

Review articles vary considerably in length. A standard review may range between 4,000 and 5,000 words (excluding references and acknowledgement).

Sections of a review article

  • Title
  • List of authors
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Material and Methods
  • Main Part of the Review Article
  • Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • References

NDC E-JOURNAL follows Harvard Referencing Style. List the references at the end in alphabetical order. Each reference must be cited in the main text (in-text citation).

Please follow Manuscript Template as a guideline for preparing manuscripts. Read Author Guidelines and Manuscript Preparation Guidelines (under Authors tab) before submission.