How to Write a Review Article?

The generation of evidence is an ongoing process  

in  the  field  of  medicine.  Basic  and  clinical  

research have been the pillars of modern medicine  

and  continue  to  be  the  strength  of  a  modern  

medical  practitioner.  With  increasing  number  

of  biomedical  journals  and  therefore  research  

articles being published, staying updated with the  

current evidence is a necessity for the clinician.

One  of  the  five  goals  of  an  Indian  medical  

graduate  as  prescribed  by  the  National  Medical  

Commission  is  to  function  as  a  lifelong  learner  

committed to continuous improvement of skill and  

knowledge [1]. It would be ideal that any topic of  

concern  is  thoroughly  searched,  read,  reviewed  

and analyzed by going through all the literature.  

However, this is easier said than done. This task  

is nothing less than swimming in the middle of an  

ocean with no land in sight.The variability in the  

quality  and  content  of  the  enormous  amount  of  

information available confuses the clinician who  

ends up having more unanswered questions than  

before. It is for such situations that a state of the  

art, reliable, well written review article acts like  

a lifeboat.  

A review article is a comprehensive synthesis of  

published  and  unpublished  material  on  a  topic.  

It is a well planned and well-organized analysis  

of all the literature relevant to a topic of interest  

providing  a  useful  summary  and  answers  to  

the  reader's  doubts  and  questions.  It  facilitates  

the  medical  practitioner  to  take  evidence  based  

clinical judgements and decisions. It is a practical  

solution to the problems of excessive information,  

divergent  views  and  lack  of  consensus  on  a  

topic.  Review  articles  aid  decision  making  in  

clinical   practice   by   summarizing   enormous  

information  available,  in  a  coherent  and  easily  

understandable  form,  thereby  acting  as  guides  

for  practicing  evidence-based  medicine.  They  

facilitate  in  understanding  of  recent  advances,  

complex topics and sub topics, which are not a  

part  of  the  conventional  textbooks.  They  help  

in  the  identification  of  relations,  contradictions,  

controversies and lacunae in the existing literature,  

and provide a direction for future research.