Editor in Chief Journal of Human Lactation Honeoye Falls, New York, United States
Abstract: If you need to find the most current established evidence about a topic or a clinical issue, what do you need to do? The information in textbooks is several years old by the time it is published. Articles in the scholarly literature are the most current evidence. However, quality of research articles varies considerably. Additionally, one or two studies on a topic does not constitute what is known on that topic. Most practitioners and educators do not have the time to extensively review the literature. The best evidence a clinician, educator or researcher can find will be in State of the Science papers. A State of the Science paper is a critical review of all the recent scholarly literature on a topic. There are a number of ways to conduct these reviews. For example, if little is known about the topic, a scoping review is best. If high-quality studies have been done, then a systematic review is appropriate. What differentiates a review article that summarizes what is known from a State of the Science paper is the critical analysis. A critical analysis examines each reviewed article for appropriate methodology and looks across all articles to examine similarities and differences. It is the critical analysis that provides readers with the information they need to make judgements about the evidence, including if it is relevant to their needs. This presentation will be a discussion of the components of a State of Science paper, how to prepare and write one.
Publication: It has not been published
Diversity and Inclusion: I will illustrate my discussion with examples of research from diverse and international authors. I will use non-binary language. Any photos I use will contain a diversity of ethnicities and genders.
Disclosures: Presenter(s) indicated no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Learning Objectives:
Evaluate the difference between a state of the science review and a summary review
Describe the elements of the critical analysis of research literature
Explain how to prepare a State of the Science paper