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In completing this assignment, you will examine nursing journals, conduct a literature review, write a 10-15 page paper, and work with APA publication style.
Research Paper | Literature Review | Scholarly Medical Journal Articles in Nursing | APA Style | Support
Research Paper
Choose a topic that is related to nursing. You may choose the topic. Research paper evaluation form
Introduction – Address the topic of your paper and provide a beginning knowledge or first experience of your topic. Why you chose this topic and why it is of interest or important to you. 10 points.
Review of the Literature - Review at least 5 different current sources (five years old or less) concerning your topic, and summarize the information presented. Research of the literature should show a thorough understanding of the topic. An exhaustive review of the literature is not required. 30 points.
Organization – The paper should have: 1. Title page as per APA, 2. Introduction, 3. Literature review, 4. Summary, 5. References. Sub-headings may be used, but must be appropriate. Pictures may be used, but will not be counted in the content of the page. 15 Points.
Summary – Summarize the major points and theme of the paper. Relate any conclusions you have come to after doing your research. 15 points.
References/Works Cited - All sources cited in the text must be cited as per APA style. Need to have at least 5 cited works in the body of the paper. List all articles, books, on-line resources you read, gained knowledge from and refer to in the paper in the reference section. Document all references according to APA guidelines. 20 points.
Length of Paper and Professional Style - No less than 10 pages, no more than 15. Follow APA Style. Use correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling. 10 points.
This research paper is 5% of your class grade.
What is a review of the literature?
The literature review provides your audience with relevant information about your topic, as well as your synthesis and evaluation of the article. It is not just a summary of the article. It is not possible to provide all of the information on a topic with five articles. As you locate articles, determine those that are the most relevant and that give you the most information. Choose a minimum of five articles. Before you begin, locate other literature reviews in your discipline, such as this article (*requires your library barcode for off-campus access).
The following links are excellent guides on writing literature reviews:
- The Literature Review: A Few Tips on Conducting It (University of Toronto Writing Center) - Good, brief list of questions to ask in order to conduct an effective review.
- Literature Reviews - Tips on research strategy and organization of a literature review from the Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- How to Write a Literature Review - An easy-to-read overview of how to develop your literature review; from Agnes Scott College Writing Center.
Finding Journal Articles in Nursing
Librarian Talk . . . About Finding Journal and Newspaper Articles!
Electronic databases are purchased by the libraries for your research use. To find articles medical journals, use your updated library card to login to the following databases. We recommend Advanced Search for better results. If you find an interesting article that is not full-text, please give the correct bibliographic information to our Reference Librarians and they will see that you get the article. They will need full bibliographic information - and your name and address. Send your phone number as well, so they can contact you if they need to. There is some overlap of articles in the following databases. However, we encourage you to use more than one. All are excellent sources for this topic.
HINT: For a full list of databases, go to http://Library.LoneStar.edu and use your library card for login.
Use the following databases to identify articles for your paper:
- CINAHL Plus with Full-Text (Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature)
- This is the primary nursing database. Locate articles from over 1,700 current publications dating back to 1982. Approximately 1/3 of the articles are full text. Use "Advanced Search." Check "references available" and "full text" to limit your search to scholarly articles that are easily retrieved.
- Health Source: Nursing/Academic
- Scholarly journal articles for nursing and allied health and and the Lexi-PAL Drug Guide, monographs for herbal and nutritional supplements, and over-the-counter and new prescription drugs. Most of the articles are full text.
- Health Reference Center: Academic
- Indexes health and medical articles. Check the box labeled "to refereed publications" to limit your search. Reference materials and news are also available. The link takes you the 'subject guide' where you can narrow your topic or find related subject terms, as well as choose articles, reference materials or dictionary definitions.
- Medline@PubMed
- An international database of references to more than 14 million articles published in 4800 biomedical journals. Search help and an online tutorial is provided. Click on the link to 'Limits' under the search box to limit your search by publication type or by journal subset. There is also a version of Medline that you can search from the same publisher of CINAHL. You will have to use the LinkSource link to find out if the articles are available full-text. If not, you may have time to request articles not found in our libraries or databases through the interlibrary loan service.
Librarian Talk about getting help
Support for a successful paper is more than finding the right resources. Putting it all together takes time and effort. Sometimes it takes additional help from the librarians or tutors. Please consider the following resources if you need additional help. Remember, the expert on the assignment is your professor; use the WebCT email to contact her.
Support
Citing Sources Using APA Style | Lone Star College-Kingwood Library style guide. Examples of both paper and electronic citations.
Tutoring | Information on services available from the Lone Star College-Kingwood Learning Center. You may also call 281-312-1439 or email Janis Terry.
| Talk to a librarian. If nobody answers, please leave a message and we will e-mail a reply as soon as possible.
Contact your instructor, Diane Langton, if you have questions about your assignment.
- LSC-Kingwood Library Assignment Guides | LSCS Libraries | Write Us
- Page created by Sue Goodwin. Aug. 2008. Updated 6/09 by SS.
