To use the matrix, label each Source column with an author name or brief title. Use the area on the left to note the key points you identify in your reading. As you read each source, make notes in the appropriate Source column whenever you come across additional information that relates to each of the main ideas. When you have completed the chart, review your notes to identify common themes, areas of disagreement, or gaps in the literature.
Use one of these templates to create your own synthesis matrix as you read and synthesize the literature related to your topic.
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Synthesis essays are common assignments in both high school and university, but that doesn’t mean they’re easy or that everyone knows how to write them. In this guide, we discuss everything you need to know in order to write one yourself. We talk about synthesis essay structure and offer some general tips, plus we clarify any confusion between a synthesis essay versus an argumentative essay.
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A synthesis essay is a type of essay that combines points, data, and evidence from multiple sources and turns them into one idea that the writing revolves around. In other words, the writer synthesizes their own idea using other sources’ research and points. Usually, synthesis essays are a type of analytical essay , but they have crossover with other types of essays as well, such as argumentative essays .
The central idea in a synthesis essay is represented by the thesis statement , a sentence that succinctly explains the main point of the essay. In a synthesis essay, this “new” idea usually consolidates the main points and/or findings of other sources.
Creating a solid synthesis essay structure is one of the hardest parts of writing a synthesis essay. Unlike most other essay outlines , an outline for a synthesis essay has to include points from multiple sources, and such combinations don’t always have a logical or chronological sequence. To help you out, here are three strategies for creating a synthesis essay structure and sample outlines that you can use as templates.
The first kind of synthesis essay structure involves discussing each topic individually, mentioning each source’s perspective on it, and then moving on to the next topic. This approach lets you compare or join together points made by different sources about the same specific topic.
Structuring your synthesis essay by topic works best for more complicated ideas with different aspects that should be explored individually.
Example outline:
I. Introduction A. Thesis statement
II. Topic 1 A. Source A discussing Topic 1 1. A point or piece of evidence/data from Source A about Topic 1 2. Another point or piece of evidence/data from Source A about Topic 1 3. [Etc.]
B. Source B discussing Topic 1 1. A point or piece of evidence/data from Source B about Topic 1 2. [Etc.]
III. Topic 2 A. Source A discussing Topic 2 B. [Etc.]
IV. Topic 3 A. [Etc.]
[You can keep going like this with as many topics as you need.]
V. Conclusion A. Revisit thesis statement
Alternatively, you can organize your synthesis essay structure by source: You discuss the main points of one source together and then move on to another source. This approach lets you compartmentalize the main points according to where they come from but ultimately bring together the main points from different sources.
Structuring your synthesis essay by source works best when you want to emphasize the sources themselves over the points they make. For example, if you were using this type of structure for an argumentative essay, you might want to fully discuss the source you’re refuting before making your counterargument.
II. Source 1 A. Source 1 discussing Topic A 1. A point or piece of evidence/data from Source 1 about Topic A 2. Another point or piece of evidence/data from Source 1 about Topic A 3. [Etc.]
B. Source 1 discussing Topic B 1. A point or piece of evidence/data from Source 1 about Topic B 2. [Etc.]
III. Source 2 A. Source 2 discussing Topic A B. Source 2 discussing Topic B C. [Etc.]
IV. Source 3 A. [Etc.]
[You can keep going like this for all your sources.]
V. Conclusion 1. Revisit thesis statement
The synthesis essay structures above are by no means set in stone. You’re free to adapt or modify them however you need and can even combine them.
For example, what if there’s a special source that stands out from the others? You could begin your synthesis essay by discussing each topic individually so that your reader understands the issue. Then you could switch it up and include a section just for that one special source, explaining that source’s stance on the previously discussed topics.
1 come up with a strong thesis statement.
As mentioned above, a thesis statement is a single sentence that briefly explains the main point of your essay. In a synthesis essay, the thesis statement should effectively bring together the ideas and points from multiple other sources.
Part of writing a strong thesis statement comes from choosing your essay topic . Pick a topic that is broad enough to have sufficient research and enough other sources discussing it but specific enough that you can cover everything.
As for writing the actual thesis statement, a helpful method is to phrase your topic as a question and then answer it. The answer could be a good start to your thesis statement sentence. For example, let’s say your topic is how Denmark came to be first in clean energy. You could phrase the question and answer as:
Q: “Why is Denmark the leading country in renewable energy?”
A: “Denmark is first in clean energy thanks in part to energy conservation from district heating, combined heat-and-power stations, and its use of small, locally based power plants instead of larger ones.”
That answer could double as your thesis statement and mentions some of the other types of sources you use in your essay.
A synthesis essay is only as good as its sources. The nature of a synthesis essay is to build on its sources, so you need to choose the best ones and understand each of them thoroughly.
Make sure you comb through your sources so you don’t miss a good point or piece of evidence you could use in your essay. It helps to come up with your thesis statement early on so you can look for points related to it when you’re reading.
One of the keys to any good essay, synthesis or not, is a strong opening. This is partially determined by your thesis statement, but the other sentences in your introduction also make a big impact.
For starters, you can learn how to write a hook . In writing, a hook is something that grabs the reader’s attention and makes them want to keep reading. Hooks can essentially be anything interesting. Some common strategies for writing hooks include using personal anecdotes to create an emotional connection or providing exciting facts/statistics that the reader might not know.
Additionally, the introduction should also explain the scope of your topic and set the scene for people who aren’t familiar with it. The goal of the introduction is to prepare the reader for what follows so that afterward you can transition straight into making your points.
Synthesis essays are often compared to argumentative essays, which attempt to refute, debunk, or criticize existing ideas or other research. The truth is that the two are not mutually exclusive. Although synthesis essays tend to be analytical or expository, they can also be argumentative.
A synthesis essay is any essay that combines ideas from multiple sources to create a new unified idea. If that new idea is a rebuttal to a preexisting idea and the entire essay is written as a critique, then the essay would be both synthesis and argumentative.
A synthesis essay is a type of essay that combines points, data, and evidence from multiple sources and turns them into one unified idea. In other words, the writer synthesizes their own idea using other sources’ research and ideas.
Traditionally, the common approaches to creating a synthesis essay structure are organizing by topic or organizing by source. The former means you discuss each source’s perspective on a topic before moving to the next topic; the latter means you discuss one source’s stance on each topic and then move to another source. You can also create a hybrid structure of the two for particular subjects.
Synthesis essays are often contrasted with argumentative essays, but the truth is that the two are not mutually exclusive. For example, an argumentative essay can use the format of a synthesis essay—combining points from multiple sources to form a new unified idea—in order to refute a preexisting idea.
If you need any assistance, please contact the library staff at the Georgia Tech Library Help website .
Literature reviews build a story. You are telling the story about what you are researching. Therefore, a literature review is a handy way to show that you know what you are talking about. To do this, here are a few important skills you will need.
Analysis means that you have carefully read a wide range of the literature on your topic and have understood the main themes, and identified how the literature relates to your own topic. Carefully read and analyze the articles you find in your search, and take notes. Notice the main point of the article, the methodologies used, what conclusions are reached, and what the main themes are. Most bibliographic management tools have capability to keep notes on each article you find, tag them with keywords, and organize into groups.
After you’ve read the literature, you will start to see some themes and categories emerge, some research trends to emerge, to see where scholars agree or disagree, and how works in your chosen field or discipline are related. One way to keep track of this is by using a Synthesis Matrix .
As you are writing your literature review, you will want to apply a critical eye to the literature you have evaluated and synthesized. Consider the strong arguments you will make contrasted with the potential gaps in previous research. The words that you choose to report your critiques of the literature will be non-neutral. For instance, using a word like “attempted” suggests that a researcher tried something but was not successful. For example:
There were some attempts by Smith (2012) and Jones (2013) to integrate a new methodology in this process.
On the other hand, using a word like “proved” or a phrase like “produced results” evokes a more positive argument. For example:
The new methodologies employed by Blake (2014) produced results that provided further evidence of X.
In your critique, you can point out where you believe there is room for more coverage in a topic, or further exploration in in a sub-topic.
If you are looking for more detailed guidance about writing your dissertation, please contact the folks in the Georgia Tech Communication Center .
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Learning objectives.
At the conclusion of this chapter, you will be able to:
7.1.1 putting the pieces together.
Combining separate elements into a whole is the dictionary definition of synthesis. It is a way to make connections among and between numerous and varied source materials. A literature review is not an annotated bibliography, organized by title, author, or date of publication. Rather, it is grouped by topic to create a whole view of the literature relevant to your research question.
Your synthesis must demonstrate a critical analysis of the papers you collected as well as your ability to integrate the results of your analysis into your own literature review. Each paper collected should be critically evaluated and weighed for “adequacy, appropriateness, and thoroughness” ( Garrard, 2017 ) before inclusion in your own review. Papers that do not meet this criteria likely should not be included in your literature review.
Begin the synthesis process by creating a grid, table, or an outline where you will summarize, using common themes you have identified and the sources you have found. The summary grid or outline will help you compare and contrast the themes so you can see the relationships among them as well as areas where you may need to do more searching. Whichever method you choose, this type of organization will help you to both understand the information you find and structure the writing of your review. Remember, although “the means of summarizing can vary, the key at this point is to make sure you understand what you’ve found and how it relates to your topic and research question” ( Bennard et al., 2014 ).
As you read through the material you gather, look for common themes as they may provide the structure for your literature review. And, remember, research is an iterative process: it is not unusual to go back and search information sources for more material.
At one extreme, if you are claiming, ‘There are no prior publications on this topic,’ it is more likely that you have not found them yet and may need to broaden your search. At another extreme, writing a complete literature review can be difficult with a well-trod topic. Do not cite it all; instead cite what is most relevant. If that still leaves too much to include, be sure to reference influential sources…as well as high-quality work that clearly connects to the points you make. ( Klingner, Scanlon, & Pressley, 2005 ).
Literature reviews can be organized sequentially or by topic, theme, method, results, theory, or argument. It’s important to develop categories that are meaningful and relevant to your research question. Take detailed notes on each article and use a consistent format for capturing all the information each article provides. These notes and the summary table can be done manually, using note cards. However, given the amount of information you will be recording, an electronic file created in a word processing or spreadsheet is more manageable. Examples of fields you may want to capture in your notes include:
Other fields that will be useful when you begin to synthesize the sum total of your research:
This short video demonstrates how a nursing researcher might create a summary table.
Summary tables can be organized by author or by theme, for example:
Author/Year | Research Design | Participants or Population Studied | Comparison | Outcome |
Smith/2010 | Mixed methods | Undergraduates | Graduates | Improved access |
King/2016 | Survey | Females | Males | Increased representation |
Miller/2011 | Content analysis | Nurses | Doctors | New procedure |
For a summary table template, see http://blogs.monm.edu/writingatmc/files/2013/04/Synthesis-Matrix-Template.pdf
An alternate way to organize your articles for synthesis it to create an outline. After you have collected the articles you intend to use (and have put aside the ones you won’t be using), it’s time to identify the conclusions that can be drawn from the articles as a group.
Based on your review of the collected articles, group them by categories. You may wish to further organize them by topic and then chronologically or alphabetically by author. For each topic or subtopic you identified during your critical analysis of the paper, determine what those papers have in common. Likewise, determine which ones in the group differ. If there are contradictory findings, you may be able to identify methodological or theoretical differences that could account for the contradiction (for example, differences in population demographics). Determine what general conclusions you can report about the topic or subtopic as the entire group of studies relate to it. For example, you may have several studies that agree on outcome, such as ‘hands on learning is best for science in elementary school’ or that ‘continuing education is the best method for updating nursing certification.’ In that case, you may want to organize by methodology used in the studies rather than by outcome.
Organize your outline in a logical order and prepare to write the first draft of your literature review. That order might be from broad to more specific, or it may be sequential or chronological, going from foundational literature to more current. Remember, “an effective literature review need not denote the entire historical record, but rather establish the raison d’etre for the current study and in doing so cite that literature distinctly pertinent for theoretical, methodological, or empirical reasons.” ( Milardo, 2015, p. 22 ).
As you organize the summarized documents into a logical structure, you are also appraising and synthesizing complex information from multiple sources. Your literature review is the result of your research that synthesizes new and old information and creates new knowledge.
Literature Reviews: Using a Matrix to Organize Research / Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota
Literature Review: Synthesizing Multiple Sources / Indiana University
Writing a Literature Review and Using a Synthesis Matrix / Florida International University
Sample Literature Reviews Grid / Complied by Lindsay Roberts
Select three or four articles on a single topic of interest to you. Then enter them into an outline or table in the categories you feel are important to a research question. Try both the grid and the outline if you can to see which suits you better. The attached grid contains the fields suggested in the video .
Author Date | Topic/Focus Purpose | Conceptual Theoretical Framework | Paradigm Methods | Context Setting Sample | Findings | Gaps |
Literature Reviews for Education and Nursing Graduate Students Copyright © by Linda Frederiksen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.
What is "Synthesis"?
Synthesis?
Synthesis refers to combining separate elements to create a whole. When reading through your sources (peer reviewed journal articles, books, research studies, white papers etc.) you will pay attention to relationships between the studies, between groups in the studies, and look for any pattterns, similarities or differences. Pay attention to methodologies, unexplored themes, and things that may represent a "gap" in the literature. These "gaps" will be things you will want to be sure to identify in your literature review.
Ready, Set...Synthesize
Galvan, J. L. (2006). Writing literature reviews (3rd ed.). Glendale, CA: Pyrczak Publishing
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Systematic reviews & evidence synthesis methods.
According to the Royal Society, 'evidence synthesis' refers to the process of bringing together information from a range of sources and disciplines to inform debates and decisions on specific issues. They generally include a methodical and comprehensive literature synthesis focused on a well-formulated research question. Their aim is to identify and synthesize all of the scholarly research on a particular topic, including both published and unpublished studies. Evidence syntheses are conducted in an unbiased, reproducible way to provide evidence for practice and policy-making, as well as to identify gaps in the research. Evidence syntheses may also include a meta-analysis, a more quantitative process of synthesizing and visualizing data retrieved from various studies.
Evidence syntheses are much more time-intensive than traditional literature reviews and require a multi-person research team. See this PredicTER tool to get a sense of a systematic review timeline (one type of evidence synthesis). Before embarking on an evidence synthesis, it's important to clearly identify your reasons for conducting one. For a list of types of evidence synthesis projects, see the Types of Evidence Synthesis tab.
One commonly used form of evidence synthesis is a systematic review. This table compares a traditional literature review with a systematic review.
| ||
Review Question/Topic | Topics may be broad in scope; the goal of the review may be to place one's own research within the existing body of knowledge, or to gather information that supports a particular viewpoint. | Starts with a well-defined research question to be answered by the review. Reviews are conducted with the aim of finding all existing evidence in an unbiased, transparent, and reproducible way. |
Searching for Studies | Searches may be ad hoc and based on what the author is already familiar with. Searches are not exhaustive or fully comprehensive. | Attempts are made to find all existing published and unpublished literature on the research question. The process is well-documented and reported. |
Study Selection | Often lack clear reasons for why studies were included or excluded from the review. | Reasons for including or excluding studies are explicit and informed by the research question. |
Assessing the Quality of Included Studies | Often do not consider study quality or potential biases in study design. | Systematically assesses risk of bias of individual studies and overall quality of the evidence, including sources of heterogeneity between study results. |
Synthesis of Existing Research | Conclusions are more qualitative and may not be based on study quality. | Bases conclusion on quality of the studies and provide recommendations for practice or to address knowledge gaps. |
There are some reporting standards for evidence syntheses. These can serve as guidelines for protocol and manuscript preparation and journals may require that these standards are followed for the review type that is being employed (e.g. systematic review, scoping review, etc).
The PRISMA flow diagram depicts the flow of information through the different phases of an evidence synthesis. It maps the search (number of records identified), screening (number of records included and excluded), and selection (reasons for exclusion). Many evidence syntheses include a PRISMA flow diagram in the published manuscript.
See below for resources to help you generate your own PRISMA flow diagram.
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The Global Guide to Research Impact
Framing challenges
By Steve Wallis and Bernadette Wright 26/05/2020
Whether you are writing a funding proposal or an academic paper, you will most likely be required to start with a literature review of some kind. Despite (or because of) the work involved, a literature review is a great opportunity to showcase your knowledge on a topic. In this post, we’re going to take it one step further. We’re going to tell you a very practical approach to conducting literature reviews that allows you to show that you are advancing scientific knowledge before your project even begins. Also – and this is no small bonus – this approach lets you show how your literature review will lead to a more successful project.
Literature review – start with the basics
A literature review helps you shape effective solutions to the problems you (and your organisation) are facing. A literature review also helps you demonstrate the value of your activities. You can show how much you add to the process before you spend any money collecting new data. Finally, your literature review helps you avoid reinventing the wheel by showing you what relevant research already exists, so that you can target your new research more efficiently and more effectively.
We all want to conduct good research and have a meaningful impact on people’s lives. To do this, a literature review is a critical step. For funders, a literature review is especially important because it shows how much useful knowledge the writer already has.
Past methods of literature reviews tend to be focused on ‘muscle power’, that is spending more time and more effort to review more papers and adhering more closely to accepted standards. Examples of standards for conducting literature reviews include the PRISMA Statement for Reporting Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses of Studies That Evaluate Health Care Interventions and the guidelines for assessing the quality and applicability of systematic reviews developed by the Task Force on Systematic Review and Guidelines . Given the untold millions of papers in many disciplines, even a large literature review that adheres to the best guidelines does little to move us toward integrated knowledge in and across disciplines.
In short, we need we need to work smarter, not harder!
Synthetic literature reviews
One approach that can provide more benefit is the synthetic literature review. Synthetic meaning synthesised or integrated, not artificial. Rather than explaining and reflecting on the results of previous studies (as is typically done in literature reviews), a synthetic literature review strives to create a new and more useful theoretical perspective by rigorously integrating the results of previous studies.
Many people find the process of synthesis difficult, elusive, or mysterious. When presenting their views and making recommendations for research, they tend to fall back on intuition (which is neither harder nor smarter).
After defining your research topic (‘poverty’ for example), the next step is to search the literature for existing theories or models of poverty that have been developed from research. You can use Google Scholar or your institutional database, or the assistance of a research librarian. A broad topic such as ‘poverty’, however, will lead you to millions of articles. You’ll narrow that field by focusing more closely on your topic and adding search terms. For example, you might be more interested in poverty among Latino communities in central California. You might also focus your search according to the date of the study (often, but not always, more recent results are preferred), or by geographic location. Continue refining and focusing your search until you have a workable number of papers (depending on your available time and resources). You might also take this time to throw out the papers that seem to be less relevant.
Skim those papers to be sure that they are really relevant to your topic. Once you have chosen a workable number of relevant papers, it is time to start integrating them.
Next, sort them according to the quality of their data.
Next, read the theory presented in each paper and create a diagram of the theory. The theory may be found in a section called ‘theory’ or sometimes in the ‘introduction’. For research papers, that presented theory may have changed during the research process, so you should look for the theory in the ‘findings’, ‘results’, or ‘discussion’ sections.
That diagram should include all relevant concepts from the theory and show the causal connections between the concepts that have been supported by research (some papers will present two theories, one before and one after the research – use the second one – only the hypotheses that have been supported by the research).
For a couple of brief and partial example from a recent interdisciplinary research paper, one theory of poverty might say ‘Having more education will help people to stay out of poverty’, while another might say ‘The more that the economy develops, the less poverty there will be’.
We then use those statements to create a diagram as we have in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Two (simple, partial) theories of poverty. (We like to use dashed lines to indicate ’causes less’, and solid lines to indicate ’causes more’)
When you have completed a diagram for each theory, the next step is to synthesise (integrate) them where the concepts are the same (or substantively similar) between two or more theories. With causal diagrams such as these, the process of synthesis becomes pretty direct. We simply combine the two (or more) theories to create a synthesised theory, such as in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Two theories synthesised where they overlap (in this case theories of poverty)
Much like a road map, a causal diagram of a theory with more concepts and more connecting arrows is more useful for navigation. You can show that your literature review is better than previous reviews by showing that you have taken a number of fragmented theories (as in Figure 1) and synthesised them to create a more coherent theory (as in Figure 2).
To go a step further, you may use Integrative Propositional Analysis (IPA) to quantify the extent to which your research has improved the structure and potential usefulness of your knowledge through the synthesis. Another source is our new book from Practical Mapping for Applied Research and Program Evaluation (see especially Chapter 5). (For the basics, you can look at Chapter One for free on the publisher’s site by clicking on the ‘Preview’ tab here. )
Once you become comfortable with the process, you will certainly be working ‘smarter’ and showcasing your knowledge to funders!
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This article examines how to synthesise and critique research literature. To place the process of synthesising the research literature into context, the article explores the critiquing process by breaking it down into seven sequential steps. The article explains how and why these steps need to be kept in mind if a robust comprehensive literature search and analysis are to be achieved. The article outlines how to engage in the critiquing process and explains how the literature review needs to be assembled to generate a logical and reasoned debate to examine a topic of interest or research in more detail.
Keywords: Critical analysis; critique; evaluation; integrative review; literature review; literature search; research; research question; search strategy; synthesis.
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WSU Health Sciences Library offers an evidence synthesis service for any WSU health sciences faculty and students who are working toward publishable secondary research. This service allows you to add a librarian to your research team, who will guide the creation, implementation, and write-up of the literature search methodology.
Evidence synthesis projects that include a librarian have been shown to be of higher quality than those without a librarian. Therefore, adding a librarian is a way to improve the quality of your evidence synthesis research. This is because librarians are experts at conducting comprehensive literature searches. Creating a strong methodology is essential to the success of the study, and librarians have extensive experience creating and using search strategies that identify all of the relevant literature.
The librarian is responsible for the methodology of the literature review. This includes:
This diagram illustrates the evidence synthesis process, which would then culminate in the preparation of a manuscript for publication.
The Principal Investigator must work with the librarian through the identification and refinement of the research question and strategy. Future meetings that get into greater detail regarding search terms may be with other research team members, so long as the PI is kept abreast of the progress of the work.
This level of involvement in the research team is consistent with co-authorship. Specific placement within the list of authors is negotiated based on the details of the project.
Yes, you may choose to meet with a librarian to discuss your research and learn more about search strategies. This type of consultation can take place over the course of one or two meetings, and should be documented in the published article as an acknowledgement. However, it's important to note that the librarian's role on an evidence synthesis team cannot be replicated by discussing search strategies or techniques. While there is extensive instruction on search techniques freely available online, the expertise to conduct a reproducible search takes a great deal of time and effort to acquire. This guide focuses on adding a librarian to the research team as co-author, but we encourage you to request a meeting for consultations or learning more about the service.
WSU faculty who are not part of the health sciences (i.e. College of Medicine, College of Nursing, or College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences) are not currently eligible for the Health Sciences Library's Evidence Synthesis Service. We recommend that you consider meeting with your subject librarian to identify their subject-specific recommendations for a successful search.
BMC Public Health volume 24 , Article number: 2242 ( 2024 ) Cite this article
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Economic sanctions are defined as restrictions imposed by other countries against individuals, groups, or governments of other countries. These sanctions have a detrimental impact on the economies of countries and can also limit access to healthcare services for people as a secondary consequence. This study aims to systematically review the literature to examine the direct and indirect effects of economic sanctions on health through a narrative synthesis.
This systematic literature review was limited to papers published between January 1990 and July 2023. Relevant documents published in English and Persian were searched for in databases including Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, SID, Magiran, and Irandoc. The direct and indirect effects of sanctions on health were classified using two frameworks proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO): the Health System Building Blocks and “Social Determinants of Health”.
Out of a total of 18,219 articles, 59 were selected based on inclusion criteria. The effects of sanctions were divided into direct and indirect groups. Direct effects encompassed seven main themes: access to essential medicine, medical products, vaccines and technologies; financing; health workforce; service delivery; research and health information systems; health outcomes; and financial risk protection. Indirect effects also were classified into six main themes: socioeconomic status; food and agricultural products; stress; early life conditions; high-risk behaviors and addiction; and transport. Most studies focused on the access to medicines, food, economic and social status.
Economic sanctions have had profoundly negative impacts on all aspects of the healthcare system. The international community must address these effects on health and take necessary measures to prevent or mitigate them, particularly in ensuring the provision of basic and essential healthcare needs for individuals and communities.
Peer Review reports
Sanctions are purposeful and determined restrictions imposed by one or more countries against another individual, group or countries’ government. Sanctions are usually imposed by international organizations as a pressure tool for responding to the course of actions of any country that opposes them [ 1 ].
Economic sanctions are the most common type of these restrictions. The two main types of these sanctions are trade and financial restrictions. Trade sanctions restrict imports to and exports from the countries under sanctions while financial sanctions are closely related to economic ones, but their focus is on banning the money flows and financial resources into or out of the country. These sanctions can include blocking government assets, restricting access to financial markets, loans and credits limitations, restricting international financial exchange, and also sales and trade abroad [ 2 ].
Economic sanctions reduce people’s access to basic necessities of life by debilitating the economic situation, decreasing welfare and weakening the functions of the target country’s social systems. One of the most important areas affected through these boycotts is health. Due to the expansion of health scope, these limitations affect different parts of health system itself and as a result endanger people’s life [ 3 , 4 ].
Studies in various countries, including Iran, Iraq, Cuba, Yugoslavia and Haiti, discussed the effects of sanctions on health. In Haiti, economic sanctions have reduced incomes, increased unemployment and poverty along with mortality by 1 to 4 years, and destroyed families [ 5 ]. In Iran, especially in healthcare area, sanctions have resulted in increasing the cost of essential procedures and drugs such as diagnostic procedures for cancers and chemotherapy drugs. The difficulties in getting required licenses for financial transactions and transportation insurance due to sanctions has left the country with a shortage of drugs and health equipment [ 6 ].
Sanctions have devastating effects on the health of vulnerable patients or health systems customers too. Patients who are suffering from diseases such as asthma, thalassemia, hemophilia, chronic diseases, blood disorders, multiple sclerosis and HIV/AIDS have limited access to drugs [ 7 ]. While comparing, in developed countries mortality rates decreased using appropriate drugs [ 8 , 9 ].
Different countries may use broad policies to prevent or adjust the negative effects of economic problems on health systems, although these policies may not be successful in ensuring continued access to health services [ 10 , 11 ].
Although sanctions may be designed for excluding medical products from the list, they can still have an inevitable impact on access to health services. Thus, the imposition of economic sanctions can threaten public health directly [ 12 ].
Furthermore, economic sanctions suppress the health indirectly by adversely impacting on other related parts known as social determinants of health (SDH) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Economic sanctions impact all aspects of the social determinants of health (SDH) framework, leading to negative effects on health equity and well-being. Sanctions can alter social and political systems, such as governance, labor markets, education, trade, housing, and redistributive policies, influencing people’s health. Structural determinants like income, education, and occupation are affected by sanctions, changing health opportunities and status, especially for the economically disadvantaged. Intermediary determinants, including material and psychosocial circumstances, are also influenced negatively by sanctions. For instance, housing quality declines post-sanctions due to increased costs of land and materials, while food consumption patterns shift towards cheaper, less nutritious options. Sanctions create psychosocial stressors like job insecurity and uncertainty, leading to frustration and stress [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ].
Continued sanctions may hinder countries’ progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG-3 for healthy lives and well-being. Economic stability is crucial for meeting health-related SDGs, and any failures in this regard would disproportionately impact citizens in targeted countries. In the context of developing countries, where progress toward SDGs is often hindered by limited resources and systemic disparities, the impact of economic sanctions on health systems and overall well-being is profound. SDGs, with their emphasis on health (Goal 3) and the overarching aim of leaving no one behind, seek to address disparities and ensure equitable access to healthcare services. Economic sanctions, however, disrupt this delicate balance, exacerbating existing inequalities and impeding the ability of nations to meet the health-related targets outlined in the SDGs [ 13 ].
Given that, the effects of sanctions depend on the situation of countries and vary from one to another, there is no complete evidence of a comprehensive impact of sanctions on different part of society’s system especially in health despite of its importance. To comprehensively address these issues, a rigorous examination of evidence through narrative systematic reviews becomes imperative. This study aims to provide a detailed narrative synthesis of the direct and indirect effects of economic sanctions on health system building blocks and public health focusing on social determinants of health, thereby contributing to a better understanding of the broader consequences of such measures.
The following steps were taken to review literature systematically [ 17 , 18 ].
The main question that we wanted to answer in this study was to investigate and categorize the effects that economic sanctions impose on health directly and indirectly.
This systematic review was carried out according to the latest version of PRISMA guidelines [ 19 , 20 ]. For the purposes of the study, following databases were searched by one of the authors experienced in systematic research: Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, SID, Magiran, Irandoc. The search strategy (see Additional file 1 for an example) was first devised for use in PubMed and subsequently adapted for the other databases. The search was limited to papers published between January 1990 and July 2023 and to studies involving economic sanctions independently as a hard power exercise. Other hard power exercises to achieve foreign policy goals such as war and conflicts were excluded. We selected the appropriate keywords from studying similar studies, discussion among research team and intended frameworks for extracting the data. The search term “sanctions” and “public health” were used for PubMed; terms associated with “economic sanctions” and “public health” were used for the title or abstract in the other databases if required (MeSH term; major focus and/or exploded depending on the database). In brief the following terms were searched using Boolean operators: sanction, embargo, health, human resource, medical instrument, medicine, pharmaceutics, disease, mortality, medical equipment, medical devices, drug, health care, Taskforce, health personnel, health workers, morbidity, illness, and food.
Duplicate results were removed after searching the databases using Endnote software version X8. After removing the duplications, a screening of publications, based on titles and abstracts was performed by two researchers independently. In second screening, then, the suspected documents were re-examined by a third person from the research team to decide whether to enter or not.
As the final step of screening, the full texts of the remaining publications were independently assessed for inclusion by pairs of reviewers once more and any potential disagreements were resolved through consensus and if necessary by the third opinion from the research team.
The articles not meeting the below criteria were excluded:
Articles published in languages other than English and Persian.
Articles available in preprint servers.
Articles did not match the question and objectives of the research like those related to the effects of wars and conflict on health.
Conference abstracts, books, reports and dissertations.
Records not in line with the quantitative, qualitative and mixed-method original articles including letter to Editor, commentary, opinion/viewpoint/perspective.
Articles published before 1990.
After reaching the final list of studies to be reviewed thoroughly, we supplemented our database search by screening bibliographic of chosen articles to identify any additional relevant publications. The bibliographic of other relevant systematic articles were also searched actively for retrieving other missing articles.
After finalizing the final list of articles, the full text of the selected articles were studied precisely and required information was extracted. In order to capture the maximum available evidence regarding the effects of economic sanctions, no quality assessment was employed in our systematic literature review. This approach allowed us to include a wide range of studies, regardless of their methodological quality, thus providing a comprehensive overview of the existing literature. This method is consistent with approaches used in narrative synthesis where the primary aim is to summarize broad evidence on a topic rather than critically appraise each study’s quality. The extracted information was divided into two sections. The first one, consisting the bibliographic information included the title of article, the year of publication, the first author, and the title of the journal and the second section reports the frequency of articles according to the main topics addressed in their results.
For identifying key concepts and main themes, each of selected articles studied carefully. After completing the data extraction table, the researchers shared the concepts with other members of the research team, and agreement was reached. As many other factors outside the borders of health system affects the health, generally known as social determinants of health (SDH), we applied two common popular frameworks to categorize the direct and indirect effects impacts of sanctions on health system and public health. To address the direct impact of sanctions on health, Health System Building Blocks framework proposed by World Health Organization (WHO) was proposed which consists of six key components including “service delivery”, “health workforce”, “health information systems”, “access to essential medicines”, “financing” and “government/ leadership”. This framework also covers intermediate (e.g. access, coverage, quality and safety) and four final goals including Improved health (level and equity), Responsiveness, Social and financial risk protection, and Improved efficiency [ 21 , 22 ].
To cover other effects of sanctions occurring in other sections beyond the health system but affecting health indirectly, the approach of “Social Determinants of Health” was applied which comprises of the following 10 elements, “The social gradient”, “Stress”, “Early life conditions”, “Social exclusion”, “Work”, “Unemployment”, “Social support”, “Addiction”, “Food”, and “Transport“ [ 23 ].
A total number of 18,219 articles were identified, which after removing the overlaps, 12,838 articles remained. Following the initial review of the title and abstract of all retrieved articles, a further 12,439 articles were excluded. Out of 399 records, the full text of 390 articles were retrieved and evaluated for eligibility.
After a final review, 331 articles were excluded due to not intended study design or not addressing the question and aims of the current research. Finally 59 research articles were included in the study (Fig. 1 ). A summary of included studies’ features is reported in Table 1 .
The PRISMA algorithm of study selection process
The study information collected from 11 countries which included Iran, Iraq, Cuba, Syria, Haiti, Yugoslavia, Lebanon, Serbia, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Russia and South Africa. Iraq [ 4 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ] and Iran [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 ] had the maximum number of studies. Most of the studies were descriptive or analytical. Four were qualitative and also three studies were designed as a mix-method. The share of different regions from economic sanctions studies is shown in Fig. 2 .
The different regions share of economic sanctions studies
Included studies have examined the impact of sanctions in various areas. The amount of available and accessible information about the effect of sanctions varied from one area to another. Most studies addressed the impact of economic sanctions on access to medicine or food and also socioeconomic status.
Almost half of studies mentioned the effect of sanctions on access to drugs, these studies covered approximately all countries targeted by sanctions. More than a quarter, discussed the socioeconomic situation. Food access and malnutrition were also explained in about another quarter of the articles. According to studies, the vulnerable groups which affected most by sanctions were the poor, patients, women and children. The proportion of different parts of health system and different social health determinants affected by economic sanctions is reported in Table 2 ; Fig. 3 .
The proportion of different parts of health system and social determinants of health mentioned in retrieved studies which are affected by economic sanctions
The Table 2 provides an overview of the frequency of direct and indirect effects of sanctions on health, based on findings from 59 selected articles. The data is categorized into direct effects on the health system and indirect effects on population/public health, highlighting both the immediate and broader consequences of sanctions. The most frequently mentioned direct effect was the impact on access to essential medicine, medical products, vaccines, and technologies, with 22 documents, accounting for 37.3% of the papers. On the other hand, the most frequently cited indirect effect was on the socioeconomic situation, mentioned in 9 documents (15.2%).
The effects of sanctions on health were categorized into two broad direct and indirect groups. Following the WHO’ Health System Building Blocks, direct effects include 7 main themes as followed: access to essential medicine, medical products, vaccines and technologies; financing; health workforce; service delivery; research and health information systems; health outcomes; and financial risk protection (Table 3 ). Indirect effects also were summarized in 6 main themes consisting: socioeconomic status; food and agricultural products; stress; early life conditions; high-risk behaviors and addiction; and transportation (Table 4 ).
Access to medicines, medical products, vaccines, and technologies.
Access to medicine is one of the main goals of health systems. Numerous studies have been reported on drug shortages and public concerns about patients’ difficulties for getting their essential’s [ 46 ]. The findings related to access to medicine were divided further into three sub-themes: reduced access to imported raw materials, decreased access to imported or foreign drugs, and increased drug prices.
There are some findings indicated that sanctions prevent the import of essential medical supplies [ 29 , 36 , 44 , 47 , 48 ]. Therefore, the manufacture of local drugs is affected and access to them is reduced.
For example, Iran experienced a significant decrease in access to asthma drugs which produced locally in Iran, because of local producers relied on imported raw materials [ 36 ]. In Yugoslavia, as a result of imposing restrictions on pharmaceutical industry, the available essential drugs decreased by more than 50% [ 47 ]. Syria also faced a shortage of raw materials for producing domestic drugs for heart disease, cancer and diabetes [ 48 ]. In a similar way, in Iraq, the provision of laboratory services reduced because of raw chemicals shortage [ 29 ].
Limited access to imported drugs was another direct effect [ 49 ]. The shortage of essential medicines in countries suffering from sanctions was a main concern and access to such medicines including chemotherapy, chronically illness treatments, psychiatric services, MS and antiepileptic drugs was limited considerably [ 29 , 31 , 36 , 37 , 40 , 42 , 44 , 47 , 50 ]. Access to hemophilia and thalassemia drugs was severely affected too [ 39 ]. Problems caused by economic sanctions also affected the pharmaceutical market which as a result, lead to an sharp increase in the prices [ 5 , 42 , 51 ].
Studies showed that economic sanctions reduced the import of and access to medical equipment to great extent [ 3 , 24 , 29 , 52 ]. In Cuba, the number of X-rays decreased by 75% [ 3 ]. Many American companies refused to sell drugs or medical equipment assigned for Nicaragua. Severe shortage of medical products in health system became apparent in 1985 and worsened in 1986 [ 24 ].
Also, studies revealed that economic sanctions have reduced access to vaccines and caused less immunization against infectious diseases [ 25 , 53 ].
In case of Cuba, the country’s ability to produce chlorine decreased and the number of populations with no access to safe drinking water increased, therefore population covered by chlorine water systems decreased from 98% in 1988 to 26% in 1994 [ 3 ].
Health financing counts as essential ability of health systems to maintain and improve the community well-being. The economic crisis is affecting the financial capacity of health care system and has hampered the financial support for providing health services [ 52 , 54 ]. During the economic sanctions, budget constraints also prevented some health care programs from being fully implemented [ 31 ].
A study done in Iraq showed that economic sanctions resulted in widespread expulsions of health care professionals, while many of them were belong to foreign nationals. Also, physicians had to do a lot of extra work, along with increasing pressures which caused them.
leave their jobs behind [ 29 , 31 ].
The imposition of economic sanctions, resulted in labor shortages, limited access to medical equipment, affecting the process of providing health services and made it worse. This imposed much more pressure on the ability of health system as whole particularly during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic [ 55 ]. Meanwhile various studies showed a reduction in quantity and quality of provided services too [ 5 , 29 , 31 , 52 , 56 , 57 ]. A study in Iran showed that due to economic sanctions, from 18 brachytherapy centers in 2018, only two centers were usable since 2015 and also the gap between Iran’s available facilities for radiation therapy and international standards deepened [ 58 ]. According to the Program of Action for Cancer Therapy, sanctions have disrupted Iran’s National Cancer Control Program (NCCP) as they have influenced all phases of treatment from prevention, to diagnosis/treatment, palliative care, monitoring, and also technology and drug availability [ 59 ].
The effects of economic sanctions on research and health information systems were divided into three sub-themes: reduced access to scientific resources and virtual sites, disruption of international interactions and conferences, and restricted research activities. Sanctions also limited access to scientific magazines and books [ 29 , 52 ]. Specialists were unable to get visas and travel abroad to attend international conferences, which reduced scientific exchanges [ 52 ].
The severe financial pressure of sanctions intensified restrictions of scientific travels and communications with the outside world led to a lack of access to educational materials and global medical advances [ 31 ].
Economic sanctions also had negative effects on both research and science production activities, including smaller scientific communication, difficulties in research processes, and consequently, decline in the quality along with quantity of research and science development activities [ 14 , 45 , 60 ].
International evidence about the UN sanctions indicates that they reduces life expectancy by about 1.2–1.4 years on average. It was also shown that this reduction is much more severe in vulnerable groups of society like women. This lower life expectancy in the studied countries occurred to great extent due to higher child mortality and Cholera deaths and also spending less amount of public budget on health care [ 61 , 62 ]. Studies from Iran show that multiple sclerosis patients faced higher out-of-pocket payments, catastrophic health expenditures and the poverty index [ 63 ]. Similarly, studies from other countries show higher mortality rate from infectious diseases and more difficulties for optic and neuropathic patients [ 64 , 65 ]. Physical rehabilitation experts in Iran also concern about high price that people with physical problems have to pay for prostheses which in turn have negative consequences for practitioners themselves [ 66 ].
The effects of economic sanctions are not targeted and they also influence sectors other than health which can affect general health indirectly. These effects can be categorized under a general concept as social determinants of health (SDH). The main SDHs extracted from the retrieved studies are as follows:
The main target of economic sanctions is the economy and money flows of countries which had negative consequences for countries’ economy themselves and other related areas [ 67 ]. The indirect outcomes in the area of Economic and Social Status were categorized into 6 sub-themes including: rising unemployment, decreasing income, declining welfare, increasing poverty, trade barriers, rising prices and decreasing purchasing power.
Majority of studies in Iran, Iraq, Cuba, Haiti, Syria, South Africa addressed the effects of sanctions on the socioeconomic situation [ 4 , 5 , 29 , 44 , 47 , 48 , 52 , 68 ]. These sanctions banned and reduced the exports of products which in turn caused unemployment among those who relied on importing such products to make money. Unemployment rose sharply in Haiti with the cessation of mango exports, on which many poor people depended [ 47 ]. Also, in this country some of factories such as clothing, sports and assembly, reduced the number of workers, which was accompanied by rising the rate of job loss [ 5 ].
Continuing this situation, economic problems became more and more prevalent. In Haiti, many people lost their main source of income [ 5 ]. In Iraq, wage fell and there was hardly enough to buy the necessities of daily life [ 29 ]. A review of studies during this period revealed that the reason of increasing social problems and the disintegration of many family structures was the fall in incomes [ 5 , 44 ].
On the other hand, poverty increased as soon as economic problems intensified. Some of the middle classes’ families were forced to sell their houses and apartments [ 29 ]. Also, school enrollment declined due to the poverty [ 5 ].
Another important effect was trade barriers so that reduced the rate of investment and the number of foreign companies. The number of active American companies in South Africa fell from 267 in 1986 to 104 in 1991 [ 47 ]. Loss of markets, credits, and favorable trade conditions, devaluation of the national currency against the US dollar, the oil exports stoppage, alongside the reduction of basic goods imports were among the other effects [ 29 , 47 , 48 ]. On the other hand, prices increased while purchasing power decreased [ 4 , 5 , 48 , 52 ].
Numerous studies in Iran, Cuba, Iraq, and Haiti have shown that economic sanctions reduced food imports while increased their prices, and restricted proper diet 41) [ 3 , 5 , 24 , 29 , 47 ]. In Cuba, food imports decreased by almost 50% from 1989 to 1993 as a result of falling rate of imports while shifting to low-quality protein products which posed serious threats on population’s health. In Haiti, staple food prices increased fivefold from 1991 to 1993 [ 47 ]. Likewise, the prices of all food groups increased significantly in Iran in 2018 due to the limitations in international financial exchanges, right after the re-imposition of sanctions. The price increase was higher in vegetable, meat, and fruit groups which made it nearly impossible to follow a healthy diet [ 69 ].
Prices of basic commodities such as wheat, rice and sugar rose in Iraq, too [ 29 ]. On the other hand, the lack of foods containing B vitamins group in Cuba led to the epidemic of neuropathy [ 47 ]. Poor nutrition among pregnant women in Iraq increased anemia [ 24 ]. Meal and per capita protein intake decreased [ 3 , 5 ]. At the same time malnutrition also increased during restrictions [ 5 , 35 , 47 , 70 ] and furthermore caused reduction in crop production and agricultural support [ 5 , 71 ]. Other studies also revealed that availability and stability were the most affected dimensions of food security following imposing economic sanctions [ 72 ]. A study about the impact of the UN and US economic sanctions on the environment in Iran found that while these sanctions initially improved Iran’s environment in the short term, they had long-term damaging effects [ 73 ].
Economic sanctions exacerbate stressful conditions. According to studies, increased fear and uncertainty, and increased mental health problems are among the negative effects of sanctions in this category [ 5 , 31 , 48 , 53 , 74 ].
A good start in life means supporting mothers and young children. A study found the exposure to adverse economic conditions in infancy and early childhood was effective in long-term negative health outcomes [ 75 ].
People turning to high-risk behaviors and addiction along with their consumption patterns can be affected and intensified by economic and social conditions. According to the findings, the effects of economic sanctions in case of risky and addictive behavior were categorized into two sub-groups consist of increasing high-risk behaviors and addiction.
As evidences revealed, economic sanctions increased suicide and violence. Studies shown that the rate of deaths caused by violence and suicides have increased in Yugoslavia and Cuba during limitation periods [ 3 , 47 ]. In Haiti, charges against children, criminal conspiracy, robbery, and drug use were much more serious [ 5 ] and this happened along with another important result which was changing in drug use patterns and increased drug abuse problems.
The common use of syringes for drug injection has increased, posing a risk to abusers. Due to economic problems, people entered mass drug distribution networks and drug trafficking to make money; tried steal or other illegal ways to earn money for buying or supplying drugs. Rising drug prices have led to the neglect family economic basket and reduced attention to the factors such as education and health care, which have resulted in low quality of life for consumers and their families [ 41 ].
According to the studies, economic sanctions in different countries affected communities’ health in different ways. Economic sanctions are supposed to force a country’s government to reconsider its policies by putting and imposing economic pressure. Although they should not target humanitarian goods, studies in various countries have revealed their direct and indirect effects on community’s health and threats for people’s right to health. The most important effects were found in the access to medicine and change in socio-economic conditions, while ensuring access to medicines for people who needed them, is one of the most emphasized goals of health systems all around the world [ 76 ]. Clearly economic sanctions suppress economic growth of the targeted countries in different ways and the lower economic situation can influence all aspects of the whole community and people’ life including their health status directly and indirectly. The World Bank data confirm that sanctions reduced Iran’s economic growth by 38% within three years, as GDP per capita dropped from US$ 7833 in 2012 to US$ 4862 in 2015. Moreover, unemployment increased from 10.4% in 2013 to 13.1% in 2017, and the economic inequality in household expenditure, measured by Gini coefficient, increased from 37 to 41%, since 2012, due to economic sanction. Clearly this economic inequality can lead to health inequity in population [ 77 ]. When the economic situation worsens in general, the financial capacity of health system and also the financial power of people will be affected. Evidence from different studies proved that the general budget of health decreased and out-of-pocket payments increased especially for those patients who depend on foreign and imported drugs [ 54 , 63 ].
In the present study, surveys in different countries showed that economic sanctions through devaluing the national currency, affected access to health goods and services, including drugs and medical equipment. Countries depending on drug technology, requiring the imported raw materials, experienced a severe restriction for accessing to medicine and drugs. On the other hand, these limitations caused a sudden increase or inflation in the prices of medicine and equipment. This effect would be worse for people who suffer from chronic diseases and are unable to purchase or use health care services [ 16 ]. For example, sanctions in 2011 caused a 14 times increase in the price of formula in Iran for infants suffering from food allergies. Besides that, uncertainty about the availability of drugs following sanctions also changes the behavior of people as the stored formula for infants not needing a specific formula which was enough for 2 months was distributed only within 4 days in September, 2018 [ 78 ].
This is while the economic sanctions reducing the power of supporting health services by limiting budgets and funds. Health financing is essential for the ability of health systems to maintain and improve human health through keeping them capable to fund and provide health services. Without the necessary funding, no health workers will be hired, no medication will be available, and as the same way, no health promotion or prevention will take place [ 23 ]. As a result, considering the negative impact of sanctions, the financing system faces serious problems in three main functions of resource collection, pooling, and purchasing. The ability of countries to achieve health system’s goals largely depends on the knowledge, skills, motivation and deployment of individuals to organize and provide health services [ 23 ]. Numerous studies showed evidence of a direct relationship between health human resource and population outcomes [ 79 , 80 ].
Sanctions made it impossible to strengthen service delivery for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) related to health by reducing the rate of occupied health workforce and forcing them to migrate. Studies assessed the impact of economic crises shown that these restrictions affected the health sector by increasing public vulnerability as same as the inability to meet public needs and expectations due to limited resources [ 81 , 82 , 83 ]. The findings from Iran show that sanctions can influence health care delivery adversely during health pandemics like COVID-19 disease in various direct and indirect ways [ 55 ]. Therefore, if sanctions continue, the reduction of inputs will hinder the improvement of service delivery and access to them. On the other hand, they disrupt access to health services even though with minimum quality standards.
About the research, sanctions limited and disqualified research activities by banning the access to most scientific and valid resources and disrupting international interactions and conferences. The small and isolated scientific communication has slowed down the health promotion progresses and limited the access to standards and protocols for promoting public health based on scientific evidence [ 31 , 45 ].
At the same time, economic sanctions affected on social determinants of health in various dimensions. Loss of markets, credits and favorable trading conditions reduces the value of the national currency and the ability to import goods. While, the cost of basic goods is strongly affected and prices increased [ 47 , 48 ]. Thus, sanctions forced severe negative effects on people’s health status by reduction of income, welfare, along with increasing unemployment and poverty [ 5 , 29 , 84 ]. This negative impact is more evident on the poor. These people cannot access or buy high or even sometimes low quality health care services.
Another effect of sanctions is reducing access to the food. Sanctions will restrict access to enough food for countries which import their agricultural products. Countries producing their own food products have better resilience. Limitation on access to basic material and food, as well as the economic pressures and declining incomes, affect the pattern of food consumption. Increasing the price of all kinds of food, turning to poor quality and unhealthy foods, as well as buying cheaper, low-nutrient ones, exacerbate malnutrition and make following a healthy diet impossible [ 69 , 70 , 85 ]. It should be noted that imposing sanctions are not always bad and sometimes they force countries to redesign their internal processes. The experience of Russian shows that although sanctions adversely influence agriculture to some extent but instead they played as the new momentum and help its dairy and milk sector to devise positive changes and increase the volume of inter-regional trade in milk and dairy products [ 86 ].
From a psychological point of view, the poor and fragile economic situation reduces the value of assets as same as the loss of purchasing power, which leads to increased frustration and stress in people. Frustration and despair cause and exacerbate various diseases [ 87 ]. Stressful situations also make people feel anxious, worried and unable to cope with. Psychosocial risks accumulate throughout life and increase the likelihood of poor mental health and premature death [ 23 ]. Findings from Iran proved that sanctions also affect mental health adversely. According to the WHO’ data, sanctions led to an increase in death due to self-harm and interpersonal violence in Iran (from 5.9 to 6.1 and from an average of 2.0 to 2.7 per 100,000 persons respectively) during the 2011–2014 period. Interestingly the self-harm related death reduced again in 2016, a year after lifting the sanctions [ 77 ].
Risky behaviors and addiction are taking as new behaviors patterns as a result of economic hardships and raised prices. Drug abuse has devastating effects on human health, while increase the rates of crime and mortality [ 88 ]. The highest incidence rate of HIV is among drug abusers and their sexual partners [ 89 ]. Thus, sanctions intensify these behaviors and patterns with a growing trend, which counts as a great threat to society and especially health system. A review of literature provides many evidence of sanctions effects on health while evidence was provided for most affected areas.
Many studies looked at the effects on access to medicines and medical equipment, research and health information systems, the socioeconomic situation, food and agriculture, and provided a clear picture of consequences. Although some others, focused on one specific area, the others discussed about the issues such as government or leadership, early life conditions, social isolation, social support, transportation which were less in number with no complete and clear evidence that needs further investigation. The most studies in our review examined the effects of sanctions using data and their analysis, or the pre- and post-sanctions situation. Therefore, according to our methodology and included studies, the extracted evidence is very valuable and reliable.
Understanding the impact of economic sanctions on health systems and social determinants of health is crucial for policymakers, highlighting the importance of collaborative global health governance. To address these challenges, a comprehensive approach is needed to minimize harm to vulnerable populations and promote a more equitable and resilient global health environment. Policymakers must reevaluate the effectiveness and unintended consequences of sanctions on health systems, prioritizing humanitarian concerns and ensuring that public health is not disproportionately affected. It is essential to explore alternative diplomatic strategies that allow for humanitarian exemptions within sanctions to guarantee the continued access to essential medical supplies for affected populations. Global health diplomacy should be leveraged to advocate for the removal or modification of sanctions hindering progress towards health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Dialogue and negotiation should be prioritized to address underlying tensions while safeguarding the health and well-being of impacted communities. Establishing robust monitoring systems to track the impact of sanctions on health outcomes and social determinants is crucial. Strengthening multilateral collaborations and partnerships to address the health effects of sanctions is imperative, with international organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations (UN) playing a pivotal role in promoting global cooperation and finding solutions.
One of our limitations was the lack of access to the full text of some articles due to their publication time. Other studies may have been published in other languages about sanctions are excluded because of inclusion criteria. Other limitations may include losing articles about the impact of sanctions on various aspects of the health system that have lost their chance to be published due to political reasons.
Although the present study examined the impact of sanctions on the health system based on the Health System Building Blocks framework of the World Health Organization and using the approach of European SDH, it seems that in some areas the effects are not clear and further studies need to be done. However, given that the impact of sanctions varies from one country to another, the study has provided comprehensive evidence of the impacts along with consequences on health. The present evidence provides guide and helps with the adoption of international policies considering the goals of the WHO and the promotion of peace all around the world.
The results showed that economic sanctions imposed on different countries, directly and indirectly have strong negative impacts on health. Escalation of sanctions will be a severe threat and barrier for achieving the goal of global health coverage for everyone and everywhere. The international communities must work and focus on reducing the negative effects of these restrictions. They must anticipate the human effects and use whatever means are needed to prevent them. Some of these negative effects like disability and death, are irreversible. Therefore, it seems better for decision makers to recommend an international prescriptive to prevent such irreparable effects on the population of target countries before imposing sanctions.
All data generated during the current study would be available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Social Determinants of Health
Sustainable Development Goals
World Health Organization
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We are thankful to Kerman University of medical Sciences for preparing the required fund to do the study.
This study was supported financially by Institute for Futures Studies in Health, affiliated with Vice-Chancellery for Research and Technology of Kerman University of Medical Sciences.
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Vahid Yazdi-Feyzabadi & Anahita Behzadi
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Atefeh Zolfagharnasab
Soheila Naghavi
Research Center of Tropical and Infectious Diseases, Kerman University of medical sciences, Kerman, Iran
Maysam Yousefi
Faculty of Health, Health Management and Economics Department, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam City, Iran
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VYF proposed the topic, VYF and MB designed the study; AZ did the search strategy and identified articles. MB and SN screened the articles and extracted and classified the data; AB and MY supervised and contributed in classifications of findings. VYF and AB supervised the whole process of study from literature review to data extraction. MB and AB prepared and finalized the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript for submission.
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Yazdi-Feyzabadi, V., Zolfagharnasab, A., Naghavi, S. et al. Direct and indirect effects of economic sanctions on health: a systematic narrative literature review. BMC Public Health 24 , 2242 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-19750-w
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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-19750-w
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Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, the current state of integrating equity, diversity and inclusion into knowledge mobilization: a systematic literature review.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
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Article publication date: 15 August 2024
The purpose of this paper is to systematically review and analyze the academic literature on integrating equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) into knowledge mobilization (KMb).
This systematic literature review of the body of scholarly literature published on integrating EDI with KMb follows established methods and protocols proposed by Popay et al . (2006) and Page et al . (2021). Using a relevant keyword string, a search was conducted in ProQuest and SCOPUS to find peer-reviewed articles, which were then screened using predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Finally, inductive and deductive analyses were conducted on the selected articles.
The findings suggest that most of the authors are based in the Global North, the majority of literature was published in the last two years, and that it is conceptual. This synthesis highlights five solution-oriented themes: acknowledging inherent bias, centering marginalized groups, promoting responsible knowledge mobilization, establishing partnerships, and advocating for transformational and systemic change. This study also identifies four broad barriers: inherent, unconscious, and implicit biases, a lack of evidence-based best practices, siloing of research and information, and a lack of institutional support and resources. Findings also highlight the value of further research into barriers, gaps and opportunities.
By studying the intersection of EDI and KMb, this contemporary synthesis of the state of the field presents opportunities for future research into gaps, barriers and potential solutions.
Cornelius-Hernandez, T. and Clarke, A. (2024), "The current state of integrating equity, diversity and inclusion into knowledge mobilization: a systematic literature review", Equality, Diversity and Inclusion , Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-04-2023-0134
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The power of a belief system: a systematic qualitative synthesis of spiritual care for patients with brain tumors.
2. materials and methods, 2.1. literature search and methodology, 2.2. screening and data extraction, 2.3. data synthesis and analysis, search results, 4. discussion, 4.1. patient, 4.2. family or care givers, 4.3. provider, 4.4. future directions and limitations, 5. conclusions, author contributions, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.
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Database | PUBMED/MEDLINE |
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(Spirituality OR Holistic Medicine) AND (Brain Tumors OR Neuro-oncology OR Glioma OR meningioma OR astrocytoma OR glioblastoma OR ependymoma OR schwannoma OR pituitary adenoma OR oligodendroglioma) | |
7th May 2024 | |
214 |
Study | PMID | Design | Participants | n | Key Findings |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Strang et al. 2001 [ ] | 11301663 | Qualitative Study (Interviews) | Patients | 20 | |
Caregivers | 16 | ||||
Brody et al. 2004 [ ] | 15226285 | Case Report | Patient | 1 | |
Lipsman et al. 2007 [ ] | 17996072 | Qualitative Study (Interviews) | Patients | 7 | |
Caregivers | 22 | ||||
Nixon et al. 2010 [ ] | 20529167 | Qualitative Study (Survey) | Patients | 21 | |
Zelcer et al. 2010 [ ] | 20194254 | Qualitative Study (Interviews) | Caregivers | 25 | |
Cavers et al. 2012 [ ] | 22431898 | Prospective Qualitative Study (Interviews) | Patients | 26 | |
Caregivers | 23 | ||||
Hospital Staff | 19 | ||||
Newberry et al. 2013 [ ] | 23615145 | Prospective Qualitative Study (Interviews) | Patients | 50 | < 0.01) and anxiety (p < 0.01) symptoms for patients and their families and also served as a protective barrier against poor mental health outcomes. |
Caregivers | 50 | ||||
Nixon et al. 2013 [ ] | 23374999 | Mixed Methods (Surveys + Thematic Analysis) | Hospital Staff | 12 | |
Sizoo et al. 2014 [ ] | 24162875 | Retrospective Qualitative Study (Survey) | Caregivers | 83 | |
Piderman et al. 2015 [ ] | 24952300 | Prospective Qualitative Study (Interviews) | Patients | 25 | |
Strang et al. 2001 [ ] | 11762974 | Qualitative Study (Interviews) | Patients | 20 | |
Caregivers | 16 | ||||
Hospital Staff | 16 | ||||
Piderman et al. 2017 [ ] | 26643586 | RCT | Patients | 24 | |
Caregivers | 24 | ||||
Piderman et al. 2017 [ ] | 27398684 | Prospective Qualitative Study (Interviews) | Patients | 19 | |
Cutillo et al. 2018 [ ] | 30485195 | Prospective Qualitative Study (Interviews) | Caregivers | 40 | |
Giovagnoli et al. 2019 [ ] | 30851485 | Comparative Cohort Study | Patients | 28 | |
Randazzo et al. 2019 [ ] | 31383442 | Retrospective Cohort Study | Patients | 845 | |
Hyer et al. 2021 [ ] | 32799646 | Retrospective Cohort Study | Patients | 232 | |
Randazzo et al. 2021 [ ] | 34055377 | Retrospective Cohort Study | Patients | 606 | |
Baksi et al. 2021 [ ] | 33818705 | Prospective Cohort Comparisons | Patients | 61 | < 0.001). |
Healthy Subjects | 61 | ||||
Sprik et al. 2021 [ ] | 32921085 | Qualitative Study (Interview) | Hospital Staff | 1 | |
Appelbaum et al. 2022 [ ] | 35852487 | Mixed-Methods RCT | Caregivers | 60 |
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Mehta, N.H.; Prajapati, M.; Aeleti, R.; Kinariwala, K.; Ohri, K.; McCabe, S.; Buller, Z.; Leskinen, S.; Nawabi, N.L.; Bhatt, V.; et al. The Power of a Belief System: A Systematic Qualitative Synthesis of Spiritual Care for Patients with Brain Tumors. J. Clin. Med. 2024 , 13 , 4871. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13164871
Mehta NH, Prajapati M, Aeleti R, Kinariwala K, Ohri K, McCabe S, Buller Z, Leskinen S, Nawabi NL, Bhatt V, et al. The Power of a Belief System: A Systematic Qualitative Synthesis of Spiritual Care for Patients with Brain Tumors. Journal of Clinical Medicine . 2024; 13(16):4871. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13164871
Mehta, Neel H., Megh Prajapati, Rishi Aeleti, Kush Kinariwala, Karina Ohri, Sean McCabe, Zachary Buller, Sandra Leskinen, Noah L. Nawabi, Vatsal Bhatt, and et al. 2024. "The Power of a Belief System: A Systematic Qualitative Synthesis of Spiritual Care for Patients with Brain Tumors" Journal of Clinical Medicine 13, no. 16: 4871. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13164871
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Inorganic lead-free metal halide perovskites are being rigorously explored as a substitute for organic lead-based materials for various energy device applications. Germanium as a replacement for lead has been proven to give exemplary results theoretically, and there have been promising results. The current work presents the investigation of CsGeI 3 (CGI) polycrystals grown using a solution-free melt-growth technique with low-cost precursors. A soak-ramp profile was designed to synthesize polycrystalline powders, which were evaluated for stability. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy analysis suggest the formation of CsGeI 3 perovskite powders, matching the reported literature. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy measurements showed the bandgap of the polycrystals to be around 1.6 eV. A prominent photoluminescence peak was obtained at 767 nm. The powders were examined using thermogravimetric analysis to assess the thermal degradation pathways. The as-grown inorganic perovskite polycrystals were relatively stable during storage under ambient conditions. Theoretical studies were also carried out to support the experimental data. Calculations were performed with different approximations, including local density approximation (LDA), generalized gradient approximation (GGA), and Heyd–Scuseria–Ernzerhof (HSE) approximation, out of which the HSE approximation yielded the most accurate results that matched the experimental findings. Moreover, for the CGI device with Ag electrodes simulated using SCAPS-1D software, highest incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency was observed. The obtained optical and structural properties indicate the suitability of the synthesized CsGeI 3 perovskite polycrystals for photovoltaic applications, specifically solar cells and light-emitting diodes.
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Metal halide perovskite (MHP) materials have occupied the frontlines of optoelectronic research for over a decade, since 2009. Although the initial pioneering research on perovskites was entirely for photovoltaic (PV) applications, there has recently been a shift to exploration of other applications such as thermoelectric, 1 , 2 solar capacitors, 1 supercapacitors, 3 , 4 photoelectrochemical water splitting, photocatalysis, 5 , 6 photodetectors, 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 x-ray detectors, 11 , 12 and many more. 13 , 14 , 15 Considering PV application, MHPs have realized groundbreaking progress in terms of efficiency, with an over sixfold leap from efficiency of 3.8% (CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 perovskite) in 2009 16 to 25.6% in 2021 (CH(NH 2 ) 2 PbI 3 perovskite). 17 However, MHPs face a notable disadvantage in terms of stable performance under ambient environmental conditions. One of the major causes for the degradation of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is the presence of hygroscopic organic cations such as methyl ammonium (CH 3 NH 3 /MA) and formamidinium (CH(NH 2 ) 2 /FA). Further, the presence of lead (Pb) in the composition makes them unsuitable for consideration as a green energy solution. 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22
Over the years, various plausible solutions have been suggested to realize stable, environmentally friendly PSCs with good efficiency. 23 , 24 Research has been taken in multiple directions, with attempts to tailor the basic ABX 3 perovskite structure at the A, B, and X sites to achieve the desired properties. 25 , 26 , 27 In this regard, inorganic lead-free MHPs are being extensively pursued by researchers, as the materials possess stellar optoelectronic properties that can be tuned to achieve benchmark performance. The most popular alternatives for replacing Pb at the B site are germanium (Ge), 10 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 tin (Sn), 23 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 antimony (Sb), 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 bismuth (Bi), 50 , 51 , 52 indium (In), 53 , 54 , 55 titanium (Ti), 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 and tellurium (Te). 60 , 61 , 62 Among these, Ge-based perovskites have proven to provide better stability and promising optoelectronic properties. 10 , 28 , 29 , 35 , 37 , 63 , 64 However, one factor that limits further experimental exploration of germanium-based perovskites is the high cost of the necessary precursors, especially germanium iodide (GeI 2 ). Also, the currently reported methods for the synthesis of CsGeI 3 powders are solution-based, 29 which is difficult to process for bulk and facile production.
In this work, we present a novel route for the synthesis of CsGeI 3 (CGI) polycrystals using low-cost precursors from the available alternatives. Instead of using germanium iodide, we propose the use of pure germanium precursor separately along with pure iodine and cesium iodide precursors to obtain the necessary composition. This method of using germanium powders and iodine crystals separately is found to significantly reduce the precursor cost (with a rough estimate of the current market prices, 10 times lower cost) for the synthesis of germanium iodide-based perovskites. Also, the devised route is a solution-free technique, which is more facile, provides better crystallinity, and contributes to the enhanced stability of the synthesized polycrystals. Fortunately, compared to 3 days, there was very little degradation of the CGI polycrystals observed over 45 days. Further, the experimental results correlated closely with the simulation outcomes undertaken via density functional theory (DFT) studies. Additionally, theoretical studies were performed on the CGI device configuration using various electrode materials.
Synthesis of csgei 3 (cgi) polycrystals.
Inorganic lead-free MHP crystals have been successfully synthesized using the melt-quenching technique. In the present work, CGI polycrystals were synthesized using the solid-state reaction technique. Ge metal pieces (Alfa Aesar, 99.999%) and CsI powder (Alfa Aesar, 99.999%) were ground together for 2 h using an agate mortar and pestle. The finely ground sample was transferred to a clean quartz ampoule and loaded into the crystal puller. Resublimed iodine (I 2 , Merck, 99.8%) crystals were added to the mixture just before loading into the crystal puller because of the volatile nature of iodine. Initially, the temperature was increased to 150°C and maintained for 10 h, then increased to 925°C and maintained for 24 h to ensure mixing, further maintained at 700°C for 24 h for homogeneity, and eventually cooled to room temperature. The process flowchart is presented in Fig. 1 . The melt-quenching technique described by Xiao et al. 61 for the preparation of Cs 2 TeI 6 crystals was modified according to the source materials and melting point of the compounds.
Process flowchart.
The structural analysis of the synthesized CGI polycrystals was carried out using x-ray diffraction (XRD) with Cu Kα [λ = 1.5405 Å] radiation at 40 kV and 15 mA in the 2 θ range of 20°–60° (Rigaku MiniFlex 600). Raman spectroscopy was performed at an excitation wavelength of 532 nm using a LabRAM HR (UV). The prepared polycrystals were ground into powder, and the photoluminescence (PL) emission was studied using a Jasco FP-8300 fluorescence spectrometer using a 450 W xenon lamp. Also, the reflectance spectra were obtained for the powdered samples using a Lambda 950 UV–visible–near-infrared (NIR) spectrophotometer equipped with an integrating sphere (PerkinElmer, Waltham, MA, USA). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was performed using a PerkinElmer TGA 4000 to observe the behaviour of the powders under temperature exposure.
Quantum Espresso (QE) code was used for all the density functional theory (DFT)-based calculations. 65 All calculations were performed with 3 × 3 × 2 supercells, for pure CGI structures, and a k-point grid of 7 × 7 × 3 was used for integrations over the Brillouin zone. We used various approximations including the local density approximation (LDA), generalized gradient approximation (GGA), and Heyd–Scuseria–Ernzerhof (HSE) for the calculations. 66 Seo et al. showed that when using HSE to calculate the bandgaps of metal compounds which contain valence electrons in different orbitals, the mixing parameters must be optimized from typical values to see the variation in orbital overlapping. 67 , 68 Thus, to obtain a more accurate bandgap for CsGeI 3 , the HSE calculation was used, with mixing parameters of 0.25 for all the calculations. Initially, we optimized the structures until the convergence of energy decreased to 5 × 10 −5 eV and the value of force per atom reached 0.04 eV. 69 SCAPS-1D software was used to determine quantum efficiency measurements. 70
Figure 2 a shows the XRD diffractogram of the as-synthesized CGI polycrystals. The XRD pattern of the CGI crystals synthesized using the melt-quenching technique showed an excellent match with existing CsGeI 3 reports (JCPDS #01-085-1274). 64 The XRD pattern of the powdered ingot was acquired immediately after breaking the quartz ampoule and after an interval of 3 days to evaluate the sample's stability. The XRD pattern shows peaks corresponding to Ge and CsI, which could indicate possible decomposition of CsGeI 3 into its constituents CsI and Ge within just hours of exposure to an open environment. The XRD patterns obtained on day 3 further suggest the degradation of the sample, as shown in Fig. 2 b. This agrees with the observations of Yue et al. 64 However, it is notable that even after 45 days of storage under ambient conditions, there is no further degradation observable for the CGI polycrystals. Also, such behaviour suggests the suitability of the synthesis route for employing solution-free solid-state methods to synthesize inorganic MHPs.
(a) X-ray diffractogram of the as-synthesized CGI polycrystals. (b) Comparison of XRD patterns of CGI polycrystals: 3rd day and 45th day.
The Raman spectra shown in Fig. 3 agree with the reported data. 29 The strongest Raman peaks of the CGI crystal at 165 cm −1 can be attributed to the A 1 (longitudinal mode). 71 A minor peak detected at 337 cm −1 aligns with the overtone of CsI, 72 thereby confirming the existence of CsI, as indicated by XRD analysis. The low phonon frequencies observed in CGI suggest that its transparency range could be extended into the far-IR region. 73
Raman spectra of CGI polycrystals.
Further, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) was performed, and the bandgap was found to be 1.6 eV, very close to previously reported values. Also, there was no change observed in the bandgap measured after 45 days. Kubelka–Munk theory was applied to estimate the bandgap from the reflectance spectra, with n = 1/2. The bandgap estimation from the plot is presented in Fig. 4 . The estimated bandgap suggests the suitability of the synthesized CGI polycrystals for use in optoelectronic applications after being made into pellet or thin-film format, as has been previously reported. 10
Diffuse reflectance spectrum of the as-synthesized CGI polycrystals.
To match the experimentally obtained energy bandgap of CsGeI 3 , theoretical studies were carried out. Accordingly, DFT calculations using QE code with different approximations were done to correlate with the DRS results. From Table I it is clear that out of all approximations, HSE calculation gives more accurate values of the electronic bandgap of CGI in comparison with the experimental outcome. The density of states is a crucial physical parameter for understanding the electronic properties of materials. Figure 5 shows the total density of states (TDOS) and partial density of states (PDOS) for CsGeI 3 simulated using the HSE approximation. It is clear that the highest energy level of the valence band in CsGeI 3 is primarily influenced by the halogen element iodine, while for the lowest occupied levels of the conduction band, Ge contributed the most.
Simulated total and partial density of states of CsGeI 3 .
The experimentally obtained CsGeI 3 polycrystals with the bandgap ranging between 1.5 and 1.6 eV (both theoretically and experimentally) have great potential for use in photovoltaics and photodetectors. In this direction, the device suitability of the CsGeI 3 polycrystals was checked theoretically with different type of electrodes. Systematic simulations were undertaken to investigate how different electrodes can have a notable impact on the performance of CsGeI 3 in photovoltaics and photodetection processes. Figure 6 depicts the simulation results of quantum efficiency studies. Figure 6 a–c shows the circuit diagrams of the CGI device with different electrodes (Ag, Au, Pt). The estimated current density and incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency (IPCE%) of the proposed devices clearly indicate the significant influence of different electrode materials on CsGeI 3 performance. It can be seen from Fig. 6 d and e that the current density of CGI starts increasing with lower bias voltage in the case of the Au electrode, while the maximum IPCE% was observed for the Ag electrode. Moreover, the highest IPCE% was found to be independent of the electrodes and was seen at a wavelength of 760 nm.
(a–c) Schematic of the device structure of CsGeI 3 with (a) Ag, (b) Au, and (c) Pt electrodes. (d) Plot of current density vs bias voltage and (e) IPCE% vs wavelength with different electrodes.
The photoluminescence studies conducted with an excitation wavelength of 660 nm reveal an intense broad peak centred around 798 nm and a peak of low intensity around 824 nm, as seen in Fig. 7 . It can be observed that the emission at 798 nm corresponds to E g = 1.55 eV, which is very close to the theoretical prediction (1.58 eV) as well as the experimentally observed (1.60 eV) bandgap. This high intense peak is attributed to electron transitions of the GeI 3 matrix and matches with reported data in the literature. 10 The peak around 824 nm is due to the perovskite matrix and observed for other inorganic MHPs as well. 74 Inter-band transitions in the perovskite matrix give rise to these emissions. 75
Photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of the as-synthesized CGI polycrystals.
The results of the thermogravimetric analysis of the as-prepared CGI powders are presented in Fig. 8 . Transition temperatures of 415°C, 450°C, 500°C, 720°C, and 800°C were found for the respective compounds. TGA was employed to investigate the decomposition of these perovskites under controlled, high-temperature conditions in air atmosphere from room temperature to 1000°C. The decomposition pathway under air atmosphere was accounted for by the apparent sharp weight loss observed. It was noted that the compound requires multiple steps for decomposition. The first stage is associated with the production of iodide molecules, escaping around 200–600°C. A subsequent steep weight loss in the second step is ascribable to the sublimation of GeI 2 . At around 600°C, weight loss of about 50% of the initial weight is observed. The compound has a melting point of 790°C, which can also be seen from the TGA curves, which indicate complete disintegration around the same temperature.
Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) curve of the as-synthesized CGI polycrystals.
In summary, CsGeI 3 (CGI) polycrystals were synthesized using the solution-free melt-growth technique, and their stability up to 45 days was investigated. X-ray diffraction and Raman studies confirmed the CGI structure with the appearance of some impurity phases because of the decomposition. After 3 days, there was slight degradation of the polycrystals. However, up until the 45th day, they remained largely steady in comparison to the third day. Further, optical studies suggested that the bandgap of the synthesized powder was within the region of 1.6 eV. Also, a better correlation to the experimental results was achieved through DFT calculations with suitable approximation. The highest incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency was observed for the CGI device with Ag electrodes. These CsGeI 3 powders can be further used for producing pellets or thin films. Moreover, the devised method can be applied to produce inorganic MHPs with enhanced stability. The experimental and theoretical outcomes suggest the suitability of the CGI for various optoelectronic applications. However, the observed decomposition of the polycrystals hinders its practical applicability. Strategies such as doping or halide cation composition optimization can be used to further increase the stability of these polycrystals by addressing structural defects, controlling ion migration, and optimizing the electronic properties of the material.
Data will be made available on request.
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The authors wish to acknowledge the Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, for providing all the support to carry out this research work. One of the authors (GSH) would like to thank REVA University for supporting this collaborative work.
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Department of Physics, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
Mariot Jose Panjikaran, A. Pramitha, Vikash Mishra, Ganesh Shridhar Hegde, Ashwatha Narayana Prabhu, Nagabhushan Jnaneshwar Choudhari & Y. Raviprakash
Department of Physics, School of Applied Sciences, Reva University, Bengaluru, India
Ganesh Shridhar Hegde
Department of Physics, Faculty of Applied Science, Umm AL-Qura University, 21955, Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Abdelmajid Timoumi
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Mariot Jose Panjikaran: Conceptualization, Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing—original draft. Pramitha A: Formal analysis, Validation, Writing—review & editing. Vikash Mishra: Software, Validation, Writing—review & editing. Nagabhushan Jnaneshwar Choudhari: Validation, Writing—critical review & editing. Dr Ganesh Shridhar Hegde: Validation, Resources, Writing—review & editing. Dr Ashwatha Narayana Prabhu: Validation, Resources, Writing—review & editing. Abdelmajid Timoumi: Validation, Writing—review & editing. Dr Raviprakash Y: Conceptualization, Visualization, Validation, Writing—review & editing, Resources and Supervision.
Correspondence to Y. Raviprakash .
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Panjikaran, M.J., Pramitha, A., Mishra, V. et al. Solution-Free Melt-Grown CsGeI 3 Polycrystals for Lead-Free Perovskite Photovoltaics: Synthesis, Characterization, and Theoretical Insights. J. Electron. Mater. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-024-11377-2
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Received : 24 April 2024
Accepted : 07 August 2024
Published : 19 August 2024
DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-024-11377-2
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The Four Examples of Student Writing come from a synthesis exercise created by Candice Benjes-Small. Thanks also to Colleen Warwick for some of the original materials for this page that were adapted by J. Cleavenger 9/2011. Thanks also to Kristin Buxton and Annie Zeidman-Karpinski for introducing them to UO Libraries.
Learn what literature synthesis means and how to do it for your literature review. Follow five key questions to critically assess the existing research and present a cohesive overview of the current state of knowledge.
Synthesis Matrix. A synthesis matrix helps you record the main points of each source and document how sources relate to each other. After summarizing and evaluating your sources, arrange them in a matrix or use a citation manager to help you see how they relate to each other and apply to each of your themes or variables. By arranging your ...
Learn how to combine the ideas and findings of multiple sources to make an overall point in a literature review or essay. Follow four steps: organize your sources, outline your structure, write paragraphs with topic sentences, and revise, edit and proofread.
Published on: June 19, 2024. Literature synthesis is a crucial skill for researchers and scholars, allowing them to integrate findings from multiple sources into a coherent analysis. Mastering literature synthesis will enhance your research and writing skills. This guide will walk you through the process of synthesising and writing a literature ...
The synthesis matrix is a chart that allows a researcher to sort and categorize the different arguments presented on an issue. Across the top of the chart are the spaces to record sources, and along the side of the chart are the spaces to record the main points of argument on the topic at hand. As you examine your first source, you will work ...
Learn how to synthesize sources by combining and analyzing them to provide new insights. See examples of effective and poor synthesis, and use a synthesis matrix to organize your sources.
Synthesis, step by step. This is what you need to do before you write your review. Identify and clearly describe your research question ... Your literature review will collect the results of this analysis and explain them in relation to your research question. Analysis tips
Synthesis is an important element of academic writing, demonstrating comprehension, analysis, evaluation and original creation. With synthesis you extract content from different sources to create an original text. While paraphrase and summary maintain the structure of the given source (s), with synthesis you create a new structure.
What is Synthesis? Synthesis writing is a form of analysis related to comparison and contrast, classification and division. On a basic level, synthesis requires the writer to pull together two or more summaries, looking for themes in each text. In synthesis, you search for the links between various materials in order to make your point.
As posed by Pawson et al. ( 2005 ), it consists of a technique composed of five steps: (1) explain the scope; (2) search for evidence; (3) evaluate primary studies and extract data; (4) synthesize evidence and conclude; and (5) disseminate, implement and evaluate. In the first step, the review question is defined.
When writing a literature review, your objective is to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge about your topic. Throughout the research process, you will identify a variety of resources that reveal what is known, and what is not known, about the issue described in your research question.
Structuring your synthesis essay by topic works best for more complicated ideas with different aspects that should be explored individually. Example outline: I. Introduction A. Thesis statement. II. Topic 1 A. Source A discussing Topic 1 1. A point or piece of evidence/data from Source A about Topic 1 2.
Skill #2: Synthesis. After you've read the literature, you will start to see some themes and categories emerge, some research trends to emerge, to see where scholars agree or disagree, and how works in your chosen field or discipline are related. One way to keep track of this is by using a Synthesis Matrix. Skill #3: Critique
In a summary, you share the key points from an individual source and then move on and summarize another source. In synthesis, you need to combine the information from those multiple sources and add your own analysis of the literature. This means that each of your paragraphs will include multiple sources and citations, as well as your own ideas ...
The writing process for composing a good synthesis essay requires curiosity, research, and original thought to argue a certain point or explore an idea. Synthesis essay writing involves a great deal of intellectual work, but knowing how to compose a compelling written discussion of a topic can give you an edge in many fields, from the social sciences to engineering.
A literature review is not an annotated bibliography, organized by title, author, or date of publication. Rather, it is grouped by topic to create a whole view of the literature relevant to your research question. Figure 7.1. Your synthesis must demonstrate a critical analysis of the papers you collected as well as your ability to integrate the ...
Learn how to synthesise the existing literature for your literature review by addressing five key questions. In this video, we explain exactly how you can en...
Synthesis refers to combining separate elements to create a whole. When reading through your sources (peer reviewed journal articles, books, research studies, white papers etc.) you will pay attention to relationships between the studies, between groups in the studies, and look for any pattterns, similarities or differences.
They generally include a methodical and comprehensive literature synthesis focused on a well-formulated research question. Their aim is to identify and synthesize all of the scholarly research on a particular topic, including both published and unpublished studies. Evidence syntheses are conducted in an unbiased, reproducible way to provide ...
Rather than explaining and reflecting on the results of previous studies (as is typically done in literature reviews), a synthetic literature review strives to create a new and more useful theoretical perspective by rigorously integrating the results of previous studies. Many people find the process of synthesis difficult, elusive, or ...
Review Literature as Topic*. This article examines how to synthesise and critique research literature. To place the process of synthesising the research literature into context, the article explores the critiquing process by breaking it down into seven sequential steps. The article explains how and why these steps need to be ke ….
This video gives you tips on conducting literature reviews using synthesis methods.Creative Commons License:This work is licensed under a Creative Commons At...
Evidence synthesis projects that include a librarian have been shown to be of higher quality than those without a librarian. Therefore, adding a librarian is a way to improve the quality of your evidence synthesis research. This is because librarians are experts at conducting comprehensive literature searches.
For the purposes of this paper, "knowledge synthesis" refers to any study type that follows an a priori project plan—called a protocol—to systematically collect the literature on a given topic, evaluate its suitability through a rigorous screening process, and synthesize it in a manner appropriate to the included study types.
Economic sanctions are defined as restrictions imposed by other countries against individuals, groups, or governments of other countries. These sanctions have a detrimental impact on the economies of countries and can also limit access to healthcare services for people as a secondary consequence. This study aims to systematically review the literature to examine the direct and indirect effects ...
The purpose of this paper is to systematically review and analyze the academic literature on integrating equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) into knowledge mobilization (KMb).,This systematic literature review of the body of scholarly literature published on integrating EDI with KMb follows established methods and protocols proposed by Popay ...
Background: Diagnosis with a brain tumor is a critical event in the lives of patients and their families due to poor medical prognoses and complex clinical care. Spiritual care interventions have been known to have meaningful effects in morbid diagnoses and palliative medicine, but their role in the neuro-oncologic patient's experience is poorly understood. This systematic review explores ...
Inorganic lead-free metal halide perovskites are being rigorously explored as a substitute for organic lead-based materials for various energy device applications. Germanium as a replacement for lead has been proven to give exemplary results theoretically, and there have been promising results. The current work presents the investigation of CsGeI3 (CGI) polycrystals grown using a solution-free ...