This is a Literature Review assignment
Research Topic: WHAT IMPACT IS THE GROWING EPIDEMIC OF COUNTERFEIT PRESCRIPTION DRUGS HAVE ON PUBLIC HEALTH IN WEST AFRICA?
You will be assessed in four different sections:
- Research Question (~15-20 words)
WHAT IMPACT IS THE GROWING EPIDEMIC OF COUNTERFEIT PRESCRIPTION DRUGS HAVE ON PUBLIC HEALTH IN WEST AFRICA?
- Background Literature to the Research Topic (300 words)
▪ Should describe the size and scope of the problem
▪ Should indicate why the chosen research topic is important
This should provide the background literature to your research topic. The size and scope of the problem should be described. This section should indicate why your research topic is important to focus on.
- Literature Review (~1100 words)
▪ Should include a discussion of the specific previous literature that is both relevant to your research question and motivates your research
▪ Should include a critical review of previous literature
▪ Should highlight the research gaps
This section should include a discussion of the specific work that is relevant to your research question and motivates your research.
It is important to undertake a thorough critical review of the available literature on your chosen topic. This is the first stage of your exploration and constitutes the foundation of any research project. The review has at least three purposes. It can be used to:
• Outline current theories and concepts (useful for generating topics and research questions)
• Summarise and critique results and data from previous studies (helpful in providing background to the research)
• Highlight gaps along the following: research designs, approaches, methods, techniques, and research instruments
- Rationale (~50 words)
▪ Should explain why you are choosing this research question
▪ Should explain the anticipated contributions of your research project
▪ Should justify the choice of your research question
▪ Will draw from the background and literature review sections
This section should include three bullet points explaining why you are choosing this research question and pinpoint where the anticipated contributions lie. This rationale section draws from the background and literature review.
PS: The whole point of the literature review is to provide an argument to explain why you’ve developed the research question. So, you are not trying to answer the research question, you are trying to explain to the reader why you have developed that research question.
Please use recent papers and feel free to touch on old literature papers to discuss how the problem has evolved and whether it’s been addressed and what are the barriers.
Relevant Databases:
- EMBASE (OVID)
- MEDLINE (OVID)
- Global Health (OVID)
- PUBMED
- Google Scholar
- Web of Science
- Cochrane Database
- Grey Literature papers (WHO websites etc…)
Some references to help you start off:
- Bekoe SO, Ahiabu MA, Orman E, Tersbøl BP, Adosraku RK, Hansen M, Frimodt-Moller N, Styrishave B. Exposure of consumers to substandard antibiotics from selected authorised and unauthorised medicine sales outlets in Ghana. Trop Med Int Health. 2020 Aug;25(8):962-975. doi: 10.1111/tmi.13442. Epub 2020 Jun 8. PMID: 32418294.
- Beargie SM, Higgins CR, Evans DR, Laing SK, Erim D, Ozawa S. The economic impact of substandard and falsified antimalarial medications in Nigeria. PLoS One. 2019 Aug 15;14(8):e0217910. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0217910. PMID: 31415560; PMCID: PMC6695148.
- Abdoulaye I, Chastanier H, Azondekon A, Dansou A, Bruneton C. Enquete sur le marché illicite des médicaments à Cotonou (Bénin) en mars 2003 [Survey on the illicit drug market in Cotonou, Benin in March 2003]. Med Trop (Mars). 2006 Dec;66(6):573-6. French. PMID: 17286024.
- Akinyandenu, O (2013). Counterfeit drugs in Nigeria: A threat to public health. African Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology. Vol. 7(36), pp. 2571-2576. DOI 10.5897/AJPP12. 343
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