Writing Research Reviews

Abstract

Many researchers in pediatric and clinical child psychology publish critical reviews of published research. The purpose of a research review is to define and clarify a scientific problem or issue; summarize previous investigations in order to inform the readers of the state of the art of research in an area of science; identify relative contradictions, gaps, and inconsistencies in the literature; and suggest an agenda to solve critical research problems [American Psychological Association (APA), 1994, p.5]. . Such reviews serve several valuable functions: First and foremost, by summarizing what is known and not known about a field of scientific inquiry, a review identifies and clarifies salient research questions and sets directions for research that can advance the field. Because scientific progress builds on previous research, the ability to distinguish between what is already known versus what needs to be documented in a given area of research is a critical skill for researchers in clinical child and pediatric psychology. Researchers who ignore others’ work not only run the risk of repeating methodological errors but of “rediscovering” existing knowledge.KeywordsContent AreaAmerican Psychological AssociationPsychological AdjustmentConduct DisorderChronic Health ConditionThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.