A review of related literature is the process of collecting, selecting, and reading books,

journals, reports, abstracts, and other reference materials. The following information may
be collected:
1. Background knowledge about the problem and associated ideas.
2. Theories that give details of the presence of the problem and certain variables
that is connected to the problem.
3. Data that prove the occurrence and gravity of the problem
4. Detailed and broad results of related studies
5. Gaps and recommendations for additional study specified in related studies

In your situation as senior high school students, the conduct of a study is time
limited. Hence, a guide is critical in order for you to complete your study. Here are some
points to consider in an effective literature review:

Locating the Sources of Related Literature and Studies

Generally, the sources of related literature and studies according to

Calderon& Gonzales (2015) can be accessed from the following:

1. Libraries, either government or schools (private or public)

2. Government and private offices
3.The National Library and
4. Online websites (Aparejo, 2018)

The sources of related literature and studies may include the following:
1. Books, encyclopedias, almanacs, and other similar references.
2. Articles published in professional journals, magazines, periodicals,
newspapers, and other publications.
3. Manuscripts, monographs, memoirs, speeches, letters and diaries.
4. Unpublished theses and dissertations.
5. The constitution, and laws and statures of the land.
6. Bulletins, circulars, and orders emanating from government offices
and departments, especially from the office of the
Presidents of the Philippines and the Department of Education (DepEd).
7. Records of schools, public and private, especially reports of their activities.
8. Reports from seminars, educational or otherwise.
9. Official reports of all kinds, educational, social, economic, scientific,
technological, political, etc. from the government and
other entities.

The said sources can be categorized as:

1. Primary Sources:

artifacts, autobiographies, court records, diaries, Emails, speeches, letters

interviews, letters, official reports, drawings, maps, photographs,
speeches.

2. Secondary Sources:
 biographies, critical studies of an author's work, dictionaries, journal
articles, handbooks, magazines, newspapers, reports, textbooks.

Related studies, on the other hand, are studies, inquiries, or investigations already
conducted to which the present proposed study is related or has some bearing or similarity.
They are usually unpublished materials such as manuscripts, theses and dissertations
(Calderon& Gonzales, 2015).

They may be classified as:

1. Local, if the inquiry was conducted in the Philippines and

2. Foreign / International, if they are conducted in foreign lands.
However, libraries and other sources of related literature technically found at
public locations are limited due to COVID-19. Thus, I recommend for you to use reliable
online sources. Below are ways to do it:
1. Using your favorite web browser (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Oracle
etc.), type in the address bar any research title you would like to know about. Ex.
“Sample Study on the Effect of Videogames on Academic Performance of Senior
High School Students” .

Type on this space the title of your

study or the key words of your
research title. For example, type here

OR
“Sample study on the Effect of
Videogames on Academic
Performance of Senior High School Students” then click enter. What will pop up from the window are the
website links to choose from.

This is how the window will look like.

Be sure to click the websites that are scientifically and scholarly reliable. Blogs and Wikipedia are not considered the best sources for research studies
because in most cases, they contain mere opinions not proven by research.

4. Choose the website that reflects author’s name and year of publication (found below the website). When you are going to write related literature and
studies, you need to cite the authors, year, and the link. This is what you have to open or click.

5. Upon clicking, you will be brought to another window where you can personally access the website and the research study itself. This is the time where you can take
note information from the study and cite the author/s.

You can also browse through search engines such as Yahoo! Search or GOOGLE
SCHOLAR which is one of the most reliable sources of research studies, journals,
books and other materials needed in writing related literature and studies.
Encode the title of your study or the
key words of your study here.
Example if you encode “Lived
Experiences of Teenage Mothers
“, then, the list of abstracts or
studies in relation to your title study
will show. Just click the study or
 abstract you want
Here are some points to consider in an effective literature review:

Step 1: Search for the Literature

There are many sources of information available such as the Internet, books, peer
reviewed articles in journals, publications, unpublished works like theses and dissertations
(detailed and comprehensive accounts of a research work submitted for a higher degree at a
university), conference proceedings (brief summaries of research work presented at
conferences),books, leaflets, posters, blogs, and other library materials offline and online.
Some websites might give valuable information such as Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, and
the likes but they are not as dependable as other sources of knowledge since it can be edited
and considered not a scholarly article (Baraceros, 2016). Therefore, there is a need to
carefully evaluate online sources as to accuracy and veracity of information. Furthermore,
the following are key points in searching literature:

1. In gathering sources, have focus, a clearly indicated scope and purpose of the review.
2. Isolate and centre your research on key themes or issues related to your own research
interests.
3. Choose articles which are closely related to your research interest.
4. Choose studies conducted by experts and authorities in that same field of knowledge
with your study.
5. Peer-reviewed materials are much preferable than general sources of ideas.

Step 2: Reading and Citing Source of Material

In reviewing related literature, you come up with ideas borrowed from someone else;
therefore, it is but polite, honesty, and courtesy to learn to acknowledge other people’s
intellectual rights and to avoid plagiarism. The following are three terms to express
recognition of author’s ownership of borrowed ideas (Sharp, 2012).
1. Acknowledgment. It identifies individuals who have contributed to the making of the
manuscript, written at the start of the paper.
2. References or Bibliography. A whole list of literary materials including all books,
journal, theses, and dissertations along with other sources mentioned above.
References are arranged alphabetically in some papers or in order of sequence as it
comes out in the paper. This holds the summary of the information of all of your
sources. Information needed in making the referencing list involves the following:

a. Author’s name
b. Date of the publication of the source.
c. Page number where you found the information.
d. Publisher
e. Place of Publishing
f. Volume
g. Edition
h. Other relevant information –date of access
There are three basic methods of referencing the author referred in your paper. These are
the APA (American Psychological Association), MLA (Modern Language Association), and
the Chicago Manual Style. Moreover, between the two, APA is the most frequently used
within the social sciences in citing various sources. The following table shows examples of
MLA and APA styles of referencing:

Step 3: Creating or synthesizing your review of related literature

Developing your review of related literature by gathering ideas from other

researches can be done by some patterns or techniques like paraphrasing, quoting, and
summarizing it. In doing so, you may either change the arrangement of ideas, structures of
language by using synonyms, changing format of words by comparison-contrast,
chronological order, passive active sentences, inductive-deductive order, or by fusing
opinions with the author’s ideas. In quoting, a part of an author’s words are repeated in
writing but the page number of copied text should be written, ideas must be essential and
quoted judiciously, meaning with full understanding. Summarizing is a shortened version
of the original text expressed in your own language, picking only the most important details
of the text. Paraphrasing on the other hand permits you to explain the idea in your own
words.

APA writing style

Print Sources
Book (one author) Example:

Simban, J.H. (2012). Essentials of Hydroponics Farming. Cebu City, Philippines: Digital
Books.

Book (two to more than three authors) – print source

Example of two authors:

Roble, M. J., & Johnson, L. (2010). India (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Marshall. Example of
three authors: Carreon, A., Marcos, M., &
Genobaten, D. (2009). Work Under Pressure. Chicago, IL: Wilcon Press.

Example of more than six authors:

Benson, B., Aller, C., Camelot, D., David, E., Ebiola, F., Flores, G., Harison, I. (1994). The
World Beneath. Los Angeles, USA: Paramoud
Era Press.
Scholarly Journal Article - Internet
Example Scholarly Journal:

Godlowska, 2016. Plant growth biostimulants based on different methods of seaweed

extraction with water . Hindawi Publishing
Corporation BioMed Research International Volume 2016, Article ID 5973760, 11
pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/5973760

Encyclopedia Article - Internet

Example:

Chulz, H. K. (2015). Phytoremediation. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from

https://www.britannica.com/science/phytoremediation

Format of a Literature Review

The general format of a literature review is as follows:

1. The Introduction
a. The general problem and the variables should be defined.
b. Every important data should be highlighted to effectively discuss the problem or
the variables such as the theory, methodology, evidences, conclusions, or even gaps.
c. The criteria in selecting the literature should be considered to assess which
resources are pertinent and should be included, and which are irrelevant and should
be removed.
2. The Body
a. Chosen approaches, conclusion of authors, specific objective, and the like should
be included.
b. Studies and literature should be summarized. For the studies, primary
consideration must be given to the result of the studies that includes the
variables.
In choosing the literature, the following should be considered:
i. Provenance. This refers to the author’s credentials and the empirical basis
of the article or literature.
ii. Objectivity. This refers to the rationality of every data or facts
cited.
iii. Persuasiveness. This refers to the degree of credibility of the data.
iv. Value. This refers to the degree of the contributions of the literature to
clarify variables.
3. The Conclusion
a. Major contributions of the studies or articles should be
summarized.
b. Current developments and new information should be evaluated.
c. The review should be concluded by relating the gathered data to the central theme
or problem.