How to Write a Review Article

The purpose of writing a review article is for knowledge updating concerning a topic.

A review article aims to highlight:

1. What has been done?
2. What has been found?
3. What issues have not been addressed?
4. What issues remain to be debated?
5. What new issues have been raised?
6. What will be the future direction of research?

Differences Between Original Research Articles and Review Articles

• An original research article aims to: Provides background information (Intro.) on prior research, Reasons for present study, Issues to be investigated by the present study, Written for experts. Authors describe: Research methods & materials, Data acquisition/analysis tools, Results, Discussion of results.
• Both are Peer-reviewed for: Accuracy, Quality, Biases, Conflict of interest.
• A review article aims to: Extensive survey of published research articles about a specific topic, Critical appraising of research findings, summarize up-to-date research findings, Identify critical issues to be addressed, Written for experts and general audiences, Be a source of original research.

Figure by Zhiyong Han, PhD