Editorial: Considering Knowledge and Reviewing Literature: the Case of Systematic Reviews

A major issue today in knowledge generation is that often researchers keep on undertaking research without critically appraising previous studies to inform themselves about whether or not a particular project should be undertaken, or to synthesise what is already known about a phenomena. This has the potential to waste valuable resources and results in study replications in many parts of the world, without justifiable reason. Moreover, nurses and other health professionals do not always have the time to carry out their own research, and so might rely on literature reviews from other authors, especially when considering innovations and developments in their practice.1Literature reviews today are essential for the assessment and development of knowledge within particular research fields. If rigorously under taken, and written and disseminated well, literature reviews are valuable for practitioners, researchers, educators, managers and policy makers in many fields. For example, managers and policy makers need to use a wide range of evidence for decision-making about policy and the organization of services; and because information is much more complex these days2they need to have a systematic means to use a growing knowledge base to address complex phenomena. Moreover, high quality evidence requires that both qualitative and quantitative evidence are utilized to inform policy decision-making.2 The purpose of our editorial is two-fold: firstly, to encourage researchers and academic advisors of research students to consider the implications of how and why they are developing the knowledge base of nursing an