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Doing a Literature Review Releasing the Research Imagination

• Chris Hart - University of Chester, UK
• Description
• A thorough exploration of the literature review process from start to finish
• Two brand new chapters explaining the different types of review and evidence and evaluation
• Extended examples that show you how to apply key techniques and procedures
• A new ‘core skills’ framework to help you turn your research experience into employability
• A critical thinking focus that will help you construct convincing arguments and improve your research decisions 

In combining a critical, philosophical approach with an expertly selected body of practical examples, the Second Edition of Chris Hart's landmark text provides both the intellectual understanding and the technical skills required to produce sophisticated, robust literature reviews of the very highest standard.

SAGE Study Skills are essential study guides for students of all levels. From how to write great essays and succeeding at university, to writing your undergraduate dissertation and doing postgraduate research, SAGE Study Skills help you get the best from your time at university. Visit the SAGE Study Skills hub for tips, resources and videos on study success!

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"The literature review is no longer a brief preliminary to the real business of doing social research. There is no topic which has not been studied previously in some form and by some means. Research synthesis and secondary analysis have moved to the core of social inquiry. Hart’s text provides clear and authoritative guidance on how to anchor a study."

"Chris Hart has yet again written a brilliant ‘hands-on’ book offering a unique approach to combining theory, concepts and practical applications that push the reader’s critical and creative thought boundaries to reach new scholarly heights. No matter your discipline, this is a must-have book."

In the latter half of this 2nd edition, there is an introduction of techniques such as Rapid Evidence Assessment. In healthcare, in particular, the reader/researcher may use this technique to evaluate the application of policy into clinical practice. [...] This edition is a brilliant contribution to the researcher's toolkit. The author takes great care to build up the reader's understanding of literature review by providing easy to follow steps in the early chapters.

Hart has produced a resource that emphasises literature review as an ongoing multifaceted process rather than an end unto itself

It doesn’t take long to find out that this publication has had influence in the social sciences judging by its 3,157 citations according to Google scholar. I originally decided to read this book whilst planning to conduct a review on the subject of wellbeing. And more recently I found it useful when I wanted to design a list of criteria to judge the quality of a rapid review.? [...] I would also highly recommend it to those academically trained professionals who are looking for inspiration on how to synthesize literature differently and build an argument.

The book is clear and concise. It makes the literature review easier to approach for the students.

A good overall input on how to do a literature review, which is essential for all thesis students

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Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Social Science Research Imagination Paperback – 12 Dec. 1998

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′This book can provide an excellent framework for bolstering what is often an experiential process - doing a literature review. It is best seen alongside the supervisor, as a guide, through the multidimensional sea of academic literature′ - British Educational Research Journal

Reviewing the literature for a research project can seem a daunting, even overwhelming task. New researchers, in particular, wonder: Where do I start? What do I do? How do I do it? This text offers students across the social sciences and humanities a practical and comprehensive guide to writing a literature review. Chris Hart offers invaluable advice on how to: search out existing knowledge on a topic; analyse arguments and ideas; map ideas, arguments and perspectives; produce a literature review; and construct a case for investigating a topic. Doing a Literature Review contains examples of how to cite references, structure a research proposal and present a Master′s thesis. It is published as a Set Book for The Open University Postgraduate Foundation Module (D820) The Challenge of the Social Sciences.

`I have been waiting for this book for five years. It sets out a number of important dimensions involved in the process of literature review and by clear signposting, diagrams, and examples will help the student to carry out her or his review more systematically. Learning how to carry out a literature review has always entailed the experiential. While this is a the best way of learning, it is only so providing that learning actually takes place during the experience (or by reflection afterwards). This book makes explicit those dimensions which could remain implicit or even missed by the student as they wade through all those books, papers, articles, and print-outs′ - Kevin Maguire, Nottingham Trent University

SAGE Study Skills are essential study guides for students of all levels. From how to write great essays and succeeding at university, to writing your undergraduate dissertation and doing postgraduate research, SAGE Study Skills help you get the best from your time at university. Visit the SAGE Study Skills hub   for tips, resources and videos on study success!

• ISBN-10 0761959750
• ISBN-13 978-0761959755
• Edition First Edition
• Publisher Sage Publications Ltd
• Publication date 12 Dec. 1998
• Language English
• Dimensions 19.05 x 1.91 x 24.77 cm
• Print length 240 pages
• See all details

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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sage Publications Ltd; First Edition (12 Dec. 1998)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0761959750
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0761959755
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 19.05 x 1.91 x 24.77 cm
• 480 in Academic Sociology
• 596 in Test Preparation for Young Adults

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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Literature Reviews

Introduction, what is a literature review.

• Literature Reviews for Thesis or Dissertation
• Stand-alone and Systemic Reviews
• Purposes of a Literature Review
• Texts on Conducting a Literature Review
• Identifying the Research Topic
• The Persuasive Argument
• Searching the Literature
• Creating a Synthesis
• Critiquing the Literature
• Building the Case for the Literature Review Document
• Presenting the Literature Review

Related Articles Expand or collapse the "related articles" section about

About related articles close popup.

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• Higher Education Research
• Meta-Analysis and Research Synthesis in Education
• Methodologies for Conducting Education Research
• Mixed Methods Research
• Philosophy of Education
• Politics of Education
• Qualitative Data Analysis Techniques

Other Subject Areas

Forthcoming articles expand or collapse the "forthcoming articles" section.

• Educational Research Approaches: A Comparison
• Girls' Education in the Developing World
• History of Education in Europe
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Literature Reviews by Lawrence A. Machi , Brenda T. McEvoy LAST REVIEWED: 27 October 2016 LAST MODIFIED: 27 October 2016 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756810-0169

Literature reviews play a foundational role in the development and execution of a research project. They provide access to the academic conversation surrounding the topic of the proposed study. By engaging in this scholarly exercise, the researcher is able to learn and to share knowledge about the topic. The literature review acts as the springboard for new research, in that it lays out a logically argued case, founded on a comprehensive understanding of the current state of knowledge about the topic. The case produced provides the justification for the research question or problem of a proposed study, and the methodological scheme best suited to conduct the research. It can also be a research project in itself, arguing policy or practice implementation, based on a comprehensive analysis of the research in a field. The term literature review can refer to the output or the product of a review. It can also refer to the process of Conducting a Literature Review . Novice researchers, when attempting their first research projects, tend to ask two questions: What is a Literature Review? How do you do one? While this annotated bibliography is neither definitive nor exhaustive in its treatment of the subject, it is designed to provide a beginning researcher, who is pursuing an academic degree, an entry point for answering the two previous questions. The article is divided into two parts. The first four sections of the article provide a general overview of the topic. They address definitions, types, purposes, and processes for doing a literature review. The second part presents the process and procedures for doing a literature review. Arranged in a sequential fashion, the remaining eight sections provide references addressing each step of the literature review process. References included in this article were selected based on their ability to assist the beginning researcher. Additionally, the authors attempted to include texts from various disciplines in social science to present various points of view on the subject.

Novice researchers often have a misguided perception of how to do a literature review and what the document should contain. Literature reviews are not narrative annotated bibliographies nor book reports (see Bruce 1994 ). Their form, function, and outcomes vary, due to how they depend on the research question, the standards and criteria of the academic discipline, and the orthodoxies of the research community charged with the research. The term literature review can refer to the process of doing a review as well as the product resulting from conducting a review. The product resulting from reviewing the literature is the concern of this section. Literature reviews for research studies at the master’s and doctoral levels have various definitions. Machi and McEvoy 2016 presents a general definition of a literature review. Lambert 2012 defines a literature review as a critical analysis of what is known about the study topic, the themes related to it, and the various perspectives expressed regarding the topic. Fink 2010 defines a literature review as a systematic review of existing body of data that identifies, evaluates, and synthesizes for explicit presentation. Jesson, et al. 2011 defines the literature review as a critical description and appraisal of a topic. Hart 1998 sees the literature review as producing two products: the presentation of information, ideas, data, and evidence to express viewpoints on the nature of the topic, as well as how it is to be investigated. When considering literature reviews beyond the novice level, Ridley 2012 defines and differentiates the systematic review from literature reviews associated with primary research conducted in academic degree programs of study, including stand-alone literature reviews. Cooper 1998 states the product of literature review is dependent on the research study’s goal and focus, and defines synthesis reviews as literature reviews that seek to summarize and draw conclusions from past empirical research to determine what issues have yet to be resolved. Theoretical reviews compare and contrast the predictive ability of theories that explain the phenomenon, arguing which theory holds the most validity in describing the nature of that phenomenon. Grant and Booth 2009 identified fourteen types of reviews used in both degree granting and advanced research projects, describing their attributes and methodologies.

Bruce, Christine Susan. 1994. Research students’ early experiences of the dissertation literature review. Studies in Higher Education 19.2: 217–229.

DOI: 10.1080/03075079412331382057

A phenomenological analysis was conducted with forty-one neophyte research scholars. The responses to the questions, “What do you mean when you use the words literature review?” and “What is the meaning of a literature review for your research?” identified six concepts. The results conclude that doing a literature review is a problem area for students.

Cooper, Harris. 1998. Synthesizing research . Vol. 2. 3d ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

The introductory chapter of this text provides a cogent explanation of Cooper’s understanding of literature reviews. Chapter 4 presents a comprehensive discussion of the synthesis review. Chapter 5 discusses meta-analysis and depth.

Fink, Arlene. 2010. Conducting research literature reviews: From the Internet to paper . 3d ed. Los Angeles: SAGE.

The first chapter of this text (pp. 1–16) provides a short but clear discussion of what a literature review is in reference to its application to a broad range of social sciences disciplines and their related professions.

Grant, Maria J., and Andrew Booth. 2009. A typology of reviews: An analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies. Health Information & Libraries Journal 26.2: 91–108. Print.

DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x

This article reports a scoping review that was conducted using the “Search, Appraisal, Synthesis, and Analysis” (SALSA) framework. Fourteen literature review types and associated methodology make up the resulting typology. Each type is described by its key characteristics and analyzed for its strengths and weaknesses.

Hart, Chris. 1998. Doing a literature review: Releasing the social science research imagination . London: SAGE.

Chapter 1 of this text explains Hart’s definition of a literature review. Additionally, it describes the roles of the literature review, the skills of a literature reviewer, and the research context for a literature review. Of note is Hart’s discussion of the literature review requirements for master’s degree and doctoral degree work.

Jesson, Jill, Lydia Matheson, and Fiona M. Lacey. 2011. Doing your literature review: Traditional and systematic techniques . Los Angeles: SAGE.

Chapter 1: “Preliminaries” provides definitions of traditional and systematic reviews. It discusses the differences between them. Chapter 5 is dedicated to explaining the traditional review, while Chapter 7 explains the systematic review. Chapter 8 provides a detailed description of meta-analysis.

Lambert, Mike. 2012. A beginner’s guide to doing your education research project . Los Angeles: SAGE.

Chapter 6 (pp. 79–100) presents a thumbnail sketch for doing a literature review.

Machi, Lawrence A., and Brenda T. McEvoy. 2016. The literature review: Six steps to success . 3d ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

The introduction of this text differentiates between a simple and an advanced review and concisely defines a literature review.

Ridley, Diana. 2012. The literature review: A step-by-step guide for students . 2d ed. Sage Study Skills. London: SAGE.

In the introductory chapter, Ridley reviews many definitions of the literature review, literature reviews at the master’s and doctoral level, and placement of literature reviews within the thesis or dissertation document. She also defines and differentiates literature reviews produced for degree-affiliated research from the more advanced systematic review projects.

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• Corpus ID: 158417742

Doing a literature review

• Published 1 March 1999

392 Citations

Undertaking a structured literature review or structuring a literature review: tales from the field, the fundamental elements in a critical literature review, the palette of literature reviews available for critical realists, from a class paper to a publishable review, the legal critical literature review, literature review writing: a study of information selection from cited papers, a comparative study of methodological approaches to reviewing literature, literature review writing: how information is selected and transformed, writing the review of literature in a thesis, elaborating your own research design, related papers.

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Literature Reviewing

2018, Doing Your Literature Review. Releasing the research imagination.

2nd edition of Hart, C. (2018). Doing Your Literature Review. Releasing the research imagination. 2nd edn London: Sage/OU. Isbn 9781526419217.

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Raquel M T Lothringer , DIANA M WAIGANDT

This hundred-page book (including illustrations and references), a reworking and expansion of a part of Feak and Swales’s English in today’s research world (2000) and the second volume in a series: The Michigan series in English for academic & professional purposes, aims to offer assistance to tutors and researchers during the later stages of the writing up of a literature review.

Zheng Huang

Frances Slack

This article offers support and guidance for students undertaking a literature review as part of their dissertation during an undergraduate or Masters course. A literature review is a summary of a subject field that supports the identification of specific research questions. A literature review needs to draw on and evaluate a range of different types of sources including academic and professional journal articles, books, and web-based resources. The literature search helps in the identification and location of relevant documents and other sources. Search engines can be used to search web resources and bibliographic databases. Conceptual frameworks can be a useful tool in developing an understanding of a subject area. Creating the literature review involves the stages of: scanning, making notes, structuring the literature review, writing the literature review, and building a bibliography .

Evaluation & Research in Education

Colum Cronin

Review of Managerial Science

Marina Dabić

Review articles or literature reviews are a critical part of scientific research. While numerous guides on literature reviews exist, these are often limited to the philosophy of review procedures, protocols, and nomenclatures, triggering non-parsimonious reporting and confusion due to overlapping similarities. To address the aforementioned limitations, we adopt a pragmatic approach to demystify and shape the academic practice of conducting literature reviews. We concentrate on the types, focuses, considerations, methods, and contributions of literature reviews as independent, standalone studies. As such, our article serves as an overview that scholars can rely upon to navigate the fundamental elements of literature reviews as standalone and independent studies, without getting entangled in the complexities of review procedures, protocols, and nomenclatures.

International Journal of P R O F E S S I O N A L Business Review

With a view to examining the entire proposed structure for an empirical article, this editorial focuses on the Literature Review, also known as the Theoretical Framework. The literature review may be defined as “a documented review of published or unpublished works (articles, books, etc.) in specific fields of interest to the work of the researcher” (Ferreira, 2015: 36). It is to be found in conceptual articles such as empirical articles, whether qualitative or quantitative. It has a clear link to the article as a whole and provides support for the section on the development of the concept and the hypotheses/propositions that follow it in the structure of an empirical article.

• Learning outcomes • The nature of a literature review • Identifying the main subject and themes • Reviewing previous research • Emphasizing leading research studies • Exploring trends in the literature • Summarizing key ideas in a subject area • Summary A literature review is usually regarded as being an essential part of student projects, research studies and dissertations. This chapter examines the reasons for the importance of the literature review, and the things which it tries to achieve. It also explores the main strategies which you can use to write a good literature review.

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Rebekka Tunombili

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Chris Hart, Doing a Literature Review (SAGE, 1998), pp.1-25.

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Uploaded by jorgeandr3s on July 21, 2017

SIMILAR ITEMS (based on metadata)

The Literature Review: 2. Why Do a Literature Review?

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Why Do a Literature Review?
• 3. Methods for Searching the Literature
• 4. Analysing the Literature
• 5. Organizing the Literature Review
• 6. Writing the Review

1. Reasons for Doing a Literature Review

• Class assignment
• Thesis for a master's degree
• Foundation for a doctoral dissertation

2. Purposes of a Literature Review

Hart (1998) identifies the following purposes, which are not ranked in order of importance, since no one purpose is seen as being of greater significance than another:

• distinguishing what has been done from what needs to be done;
• discovering important variables relevant to the topic;
• synthesizing and gaining a new perspective;
• identifying relationships between ideas and practice;
• establishing the context of the topic or problem;
• rationalizing the significance of the problem;
• enhancing and acquiring the subject vocabulary;
• understanding the structure of the subject;
• relating ideas and theory to applications;
• identifying the main methodologies and research techniques that have been used;
• placing the research in a historical context to show familiarlity with state-of-the-art developments.

   (Hart, 1998, p. 27)

3. Components of a Literature Review

1. Problem formulation

• What is the topic being examined?
• What are the component issues?

2. Literature search

• To identify materials relevant to the topic

3. Data evaluation

• To identify which literature makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the topic

4. Analysis and interpretation

• Discussion of the findings and conclusions of pertinent literature
• << Previous: 1. Introduction
• Next: 3. Methods for Searching the Literature >>
• Last Updated: May 9, 2024 10:36 AM
• URL: https://libguides.uwi.edu/litreviewsoe

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Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Research Imagination (SAGE Study Skills Series) 2nd Edition, Kindle Edition

• A thorough exploration of the literature review process from start to finish
• Two brand new chapters explaining the different types of review and evidence and evaluation
• Extended examples that show you how to apply key techniques and procedures
• A new ‘core skills’ framework to help you turn your research experience into employability
• A critical thinking focus that will help you construct convincing arguments and improve your research decisions 

In combining a critical, philosophical approach with an expertly selected body of practical examples, the Second Edition of Chris Hart′s landmark text provides both the intellectual understanding and the technical skills required to produce sophisticated, robust literature reviews of the very highest standard.

SAGE Study Skills are essential study guides for students of all levels. From how to write great essays and succeeding at university, to writing your undergraduate dissertation and doing postgraduate research, SAGE Study Skills help you get the best from your time at university. Visit the SAGE Study Skills hub for tips, resources and videos on study success!

• ISBN-13 978-1526419200
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• Publisher SAGE Publications Ltd
• Publication date January 1, 2018
• Language English
• File size 24360 KB
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• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B077QQ4Z4N
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ SAGE Publications Ltd; 2nd edition (January 1, 2018)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 1, 2018
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 24360 KB
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EDL 7108 Action Research I: Literature Reviews and Annotated Bibliographies

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• Distinguishing Article Type
• Literature Reviews and Annotated Bibliographies
• Interlibrary Loan - ILLiad This link opens in a new window
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Literature Reviews: An Overview

Annotated Bibliography and Literature Review Information

• The Literature Review: A Few Tips On Conducting It Created by Written by Dena Taylor, Health Sciences Writing Centre, University of Toronto.
• Conducting Literature Reviews - University of North Carolina
• Creating Annotated Bibliographies - OWL at Purdue University
• Annotated Bibliographies - University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign
• Lit review check list
• Annotated Bibliography Review Chapter 7 - Section 2>> Annotated Bibliographies.

The Literature Review

According to Hart (1998), “A literature review is an objective, thorough summary and critical analysis of the relevant available research and non-research literature on the topic being studied” (as cited in Cronin, Ryan & Coughlan 2008).

The Literature Review Process

• Selecting a review topic
• Searching the literature
• Gathering, reading and analyzing the literature
• Writing the review

Lit Review Process

Types of Literature Reviews

• Systematic literature review

Implemented in response to specific questions about clinical practice; designation of criteria for including/excluding literature is important part of this type of review.

Purpose : aims at producing an inclusive list of the entire literature on a topic; set apart the literature on a topic based on predefined criteria; assess and synthesize these sources

• Traditional or narrative review

Summarizes, synthesizes and discusses literature on chosen topic; selective with regard to sources included.

Purpose : to give a comprehensive overview of the literature in a chosen area; to identify gaps in existing research; to develop conceptual framework; to refine research topic/question

(Cronin et al. 2008, 38)

Questions your lit review should answer

• Why is this subject important?
• Who else thinks it is important?
• Who has worked on this subject before?
• Who has done something similar to what I am doing?
• What can be adapted to my own study?
• What are the gaps in the research?
• Who is going to use my material?
• What use will my project be?
• What will my contribution be?
• What specific question will I answer?
• What specific questions will my research not be able to address?

(Murray 2006:115)

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• > Journals
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• > Volume 14 Issue 1
• > Dworkin, Hart, and the Problem of Theoretical Perspective

Article contents

Dworkin, hart, and the problem of theoretical perspective.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2024

The following article analyzes the dispute between legal philosophers Ronald Dworkin and H.L.A. Hart over the nature of legal rights. The author argues that central to this dispute is a pervasive methodological problem of social theory, the “problem of theoretical perspective.” He makes use of a distinction between “internal” and “external” perspectives to defend what he conceives to be Hart's more fully social approach to the conceptualization of legal rights.

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I am grateful to Harry Glasbeek, Reuben Hasson, Allan Hutchinson and the editors of the Law and Society Review for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper.

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• Volume 14, Issue 1
• Michael Mandel
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3053109

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Heart Rate Variability Applications in Strength and Conditioning: A Narrative Review

Affiliations.

• 1 College of Osteopathic Medicine, Touro University California, Vallejo, CA 94592, USA.
• 2 Center for Applied Biobehavioral Sciences (CABS), Alliant International University, San Diego, CA 92131, USA.
• 3 Department of Health and Human Physiological Sciences, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866, USA.
• 4 Department of Cardiology, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA.
• PMID: 38921629
• PMCID: PMC11204851
• DOI: 10.3390/jfmk9020093

Heart rate variability (HRV) is defined as the fluctuation of time intervals between adjacent heartbeats and is commonly used as a surrogate measure of autonomic function. HRV has become an increasingly measured variable by wearable technology for use in fitness and sport applications. However, with its increased use, a gap has arisen between the research and the application of this technology in strength and conditioning. The goal of this narrative literature review is to discuss current evidence and propose preliminary guidelines regarding the application of HRV in strength and conditioning. A literature review was conducted searching for HRV and strength and conditioning, aiming to focus on studies with time-domain measurements. Studies suggest that HRV is a helpful metric to assess training status, adaptability, and recovery after a training program. Although reduced HRV may be a sign of overreaching and/or overtraining syndrome, it may not be a sensitive marker in aerobic-trained athletes and therefore has different utilities for different athletic populations. There is likely utility to HRV-guided programming compared to predefined programming in several types of training. Evidence-based preliminary guidelines for the application of HRV in strength and conditioning are discussed. This is an evolving area of research, and more data are needed to evaluate the best practices for applying HRV in strength and conditioning.

Keywords: HRV-guided training; overtraining; training adaptations; training prescription.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Visualization of a rolling 7-day…

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