Literature reviews are an increasingly common tool underpinning evidence-based practice in nursing education and research. Students, researchers and practitioners formulating a question about how to improve practice or solve a problem, are encouraged to locate and appraise the relevant research in order to determine best practice or the direction of further research.

In this challenging book, Martin Lipscomb unpicks the thinking behind literature reviews. He argues that this seemingly straight-forward approach is beset with significant problems that are seldom recognised or engaged with. Positing that nurses often ask ‘unanswerable’ questions – whether they are metaphysical, ethical, or sociological – and identifying difficulties that both quantitative and qualitative research pose for nurses, the book explores exactly why literature reviews are so much trickier than they appear before outlining a possible way forward.

A Critique of Literature Reviews in Nursing is an important and controversial contribution to the debate around evidence-based practice. It is suitable for those with an interest in nursing research, and the philosophy and sociology of nursing.