ArticlePerspectives on medical education2022
State-of-the-art literature review methodology: A six-step approach for knowledge synthesis.
Article in Perspectives on medical education, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 97 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Bullying as an Adverse Childhood Experience?-State of the Art.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Conducting evidence synthesis and developing evidence-based advice in public health and beyond: A scoping review and map of methods guidance.Research synthesis methods · 2026Article
- Advances in breath-hold diving research: a state-of-the-art review.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Review
- Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery: A State-of-the-Art Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- A State-of-the-Art Review of the Historical Evolution of the Graduate Medical Educator Role.Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges · 2025Review
- Medication Adherence Measurement in Chronic Diseases: A State-of-the-Art Review of the Literature.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2025Review
- Customization of manual wheelchair components: a state-of-the-art review.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2025Review
- Global strategies for implementing health financing equity - a state-of-the-art review of political declarations.International journal for equity in health · 2025Review
- Where Are the Irish in Research on Ethnic Health Inequalities in Britain? A State-Of-The-Art Literature Review.Sociology of health & illness · 2025Review
- Psychedelics as moral bioenhancers: Protocol for a scoping review of ethical arguments for and against.Wellcome open research · 2025Article
- What Do Patients With Cancer Know, or Want to Know, About Genomic Tumor Sequencing and Genetic Testing? A State-of-the-Art Review.Journal of the advanced practitioner in oncology · 2024Review
- Followership in interprofessional healthcare teams: a state-of-the-art narrative review.BMJ leader · 2024Review
- Philosophy of psychiatry: theoretical advances and clinical implications.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2024Article
- Supported self-management in long-term conditions in an African context.The South African journal of physiotherapy · 2024Article
- A state-of-the-art review on deep learning for estimating eloquent cortex from resting-state fMRI.Neurosurgical review · 2023Review
- Clinical Applications ofLife (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Health Tourism-Subject of Scientific Research: A Literature Review and Cluster Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- How to Conduct a State-of-the-Art Literature Review.Journal of graduate medical education · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionResearchers and practitioners rely on literature reviews to synthesize large bodies of knowledge. Many types of literature reviews have been developed, each targeting a specific purpose. However, these syntheses are hampered if the review type's paradigmatic roots, methods, and markers of rigor are only vaguely understood. One literature review type whose methodology has yet to be elucidated is the state-of-the-art (SotA) review. If medical educators are to harness SotA reviews to generate knowledge syntheses, we must understand and articulate the paradigmatic roots of, and methods for, conducting SotA reviews.
methodsWe reviewed 940 articles published between 2014-2021 labeled as SotA reviews. We (a) identified all SotA methods-related resources, (b) examined the foundational principles and techniques underpinning the reviews, and (c) combined our findings to inductively analyze and articulate the philosophical foundations, process steps, and markers of rigor.
resultsIn the 940 articles reviewed, nearly all manuscripts (98%) lacked citations for how to conduct a SotA review. The term "state of the art" was used in 4 different ways. Analysis revealed that SotA articles are grounded in relativism and subjectivism. DISCUSSION: This article provides a 6-step approach for conducting SotA reviews. SotA reviews offer an interpretive synthesis that describes: This is where we are now. This is how we got here. This is where we could be going. This chronologically rooted narrative synthesis provides a methodology for reviewing large bodies of literature to explore why and how our current knowledge has developed and to offer new research directions.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.