A review article summarizes a topic by examining previously published research. A review article does NOT present results of original research.
In biomedical research you may also encounter both meta-analyses and systematic reviews. These are different from a review article, which is a more general overview of a topic and the relevant research about it.
"A review earns the adjective systematic if it is based on a clearly formulated question, identifies relevant studies, appraises their quality and summarizes the evidence by use of explicit methodology. It is the explicit and systematic approach that distinguishes systematic reviews from traditional reviews and commentaries. "
--Khan KS, Kunz R, Kleijnen J, Antes G. Five steps to conducting a systematic review. J R Soc Med. 2003 Mar;96(3):118-21. doi: 10.1177/014107680309600304. PMID: 12612111; PMCID: PMC539417.
A meta-analysis focuses on analyzing and synthesizing data from several studies.
The Annual Reviews journals are a special type of academic journal. All the articles published in these journals are review articles. Review articles articles are extensive articles on a topic that discuss all the important scholarly research about that topic up to the point when the article is published. Annual review articles not only provide extensive summaries of topics, but they also have extensive bibliographies that you can use to find relevant sources for your papers.
See an example of a review article. Some Annual Reviews in biology include
After you see a results list, you can limit the results to specific article types. Rather than presenting results of new research, review articles summarize the current research on a topic. Review articles, especially if they are recent, are a good way to learn about a topic and gather other relevant citations.
After you see a results list, you can filter the results to specific article types. Rather than presenting results of new research, review articles summarize the current research on a topic. Review articles, especially if they are recent, are a good way to learn about a topic and gather other relevant citations.
