In another recent report, that stretches more widely, the IMF ( PDF) looks at local contraction globally with a compact review of recent literature.

FORBES: The Still Shrinking Local Governments

Very recently the Institute of Medicine of the prestigious U.S. National Academy of Science published a review of the scientific literature and noted that vitamin D may be linked to heart disease, immune function, cancer prevention and diabetes.

CNN: Do vitamins help against type 2 diabetes?

In 2007, researchers at Arizona State University decided to do a systematic review of all the literature on the efficacy of prayer to see what picture emerged.

BBC: Prayers for Muamba

The research included a review of data and of research literature from the UK, Romania and Bulgaria.

BBC: Romanian and Bulgarian immigrant impact 'modest'

That is the conclusion of a survey of the academic literature published in peer review journals since 1983 by William McBride of the Tax Foundation.

FORBES: Academics Have Spoken, And Obamanomics Is The Path To Slow Growth

There's more: According to a wide-ranging review of the published literature, highly educated people are more likely to have had extramarital sex (those with graduate degrees are 1.75 times more likely to have cheated than those with high school diplomas).

FORBES: Careers And Marriage