University of Galway

Course Module Information

Course Modules

Semester 1 and Semester 2 | Credits: 5

This module is designed for students to investigate, draft and engage in the procees to submit a review paper to a peer-reviewed journal, with a particular emphasis on sustainability and sustainable development. The student will gain understanding of what is a review article, including what is the function and audience of a review article. The module will provide training in the different types of methodological approaches to narrative, best evidence and systematic reviews, and classification typologies of reviews by objective or mandate. The student will gain an understanding of the key elements and structure of a review article, including through extensive review and critical analysis of existing high quality review articles in the literature.
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. Demonstrate an understanding of what a review article is, including what is the function and audience of a review article.
  2. Implement a process to identify gaps in the published review literature that can usefully be filled by an additional review paper on the topic, and justify why the review article should be considered for publication.
  3. Recognize the importance of review methods and understand the use of rigorous methods to conduct a review of existing literature.
  4. Deploy methodological approaches to narrative, best evidence and systematic reviews, and have an understanding of classification typologies of reviews by objective or mandate.
  5. Demonstrate understanding of the stepwise approach to investigating and drafting a review and sources of bias and confounding in researching and drafting a review article.
  6. Develop critical thinking and information skills including through review of the primary literature, existing review articles and developing a literature search strategy combined with quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis methods for the review.
  7. Appreciate the importance of research from high-quality peer-reviewed journals, including the use of bibliometrics to identify important primary or review papers in the literature that are advancing the state of the art.
  8. Engage with supervisors in a team effort to investigate and draft a review article that is of sufficient quality and scholarship to be considered for submission to a target journal.
Assessments
  • Continuous Assessment (100%)
Teachers
The above information outlines module PAB5121: "Writing a Review Article on a Sustainable Development Topic" and is valid from 2022 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.