Foundations and Essentials for the Doctor of Nursing Practice

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LOCATING AND CRITICALLY ANALYZING PRIMARY RESEARCH ARTICLES

What steps do you take to locate primary and peer-reviewed research articles when performing a literature search?

What resources are available to you to engage in a meaningful and successful literature search?

As you have explored throughout this course, Walden University provides vast resources for student support to ensure success in their academic program of study. When it comes to research and using Library resources, several support mechanisms are available to you as well.

Taking the first step to think about a research topic or area of interest and filtering that topic using a series of keywords and operations will be a fundamental component for performing a literature search in Walden Library’s databases. While the ultimate goal is to produce a set or results that match your search criteria, you must keep in mind that that the quality of the research articles obtained will likely vary. Thus, you must critically examine and analyze the aims of the research produced and how it aligns, confirms, or negates your topic or area of research. As you develop proficiency in this area, you will discover that you can extract content themes and frameworks to enhance future research and the need to identify additional research support.

For this Assignment, consult the Walden Library webinars and resources provided. These resources serve as a general good first step for performing literature searches and engaging with the databases of research available to you. Think about a research topic or area of interest to focus on for this Assignment. Then, search the Walden Library to locate and retrieve peer-reviewed research articles that pertain to your topic or area of interest. 

 locate three peer-reviewed primary research articles that pertain to your practice area (Mental Health) and are of particular interest to you.

THE ASSIGNMENT: (6 PARAGRAPHS)

Write a 6-paragraph APA-formatted paper in which you do the following:

· Write a 1-pararaph introduction of how you conducted your literature search and the databases consulted in your search in relation to your practice area or area of interest. Be specific and provide examples.

· Write a 1-paragraph summary of each of the articles you have selected (a total of 3 paragraphs).

· Write 1 paragraph that 
synthesizes the three articles using a scholarly voice.

· Write a final paragraph in which you discuss the differences between summarizing and synthesizing research. Be specific and provide examples.

Reminder: The College of Nursing requires that all papers submitted include a title page, introduction, summary, and references.