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Identifying Literature Reviews in Disciplinary Research Articles (1) 456
Identifying Literature Reviews in Disciplinary Research Articles (1) 456
Identifying Literature Reviews in Disciplinary Research Articles (1) 456
In Unit 1, you will be analyzing literature reviews in research articles from your discipline, so that you
can gain insight into disciplinary preferences for features used in these texts. Toward that goal, you will
need to find samples of literature reviews from your discipline. This activity will give you practice in
identifying literature reviews within a research article. We will practice with samples from the discipline
of applied linguistics, a field that explores language-related problems.
Therefore, as you search through the articles above, the first thing to look for is whether the paper is an
empirical research article. You will need to skim through the whole paper to determine this. (Tip: Look
for separate sections on methodology and results. Empirical research articles also often include
numbered research questions.)
Instead, you will want to look for papers that include distinct sections (1 or more) in which the purpose
is to review the relevant literature on the paper’s topic.
Step 3: What headings are used for the literature review section(s)?
Once you have identified a section (or more than one) that reviews the literature, you will want to note
how they are labeled, using headings. You may be lucky and find some articles that use the heading
“Literature Review,” but many articles do not use such a heading; instead, the heading may describe the
topic or issue that is being reviewed.
Csizér & Yes, this article It is not clear The literature review section is not explicitly
Tankó (2017) reports on a from the labeled as "Literature Review." However,
study conducted provided there is a section that reviews relevant
by the authors. information literature. The section starts on page 388
whether there is and ends on page 391.
a distinct
literature review
section in this
article.
Deignan, Is this article Yes, there is a The literature review section is not explicitly
Semino, & reporting on a literature review labeled as "Literature Review." The relevant
Paul (2019) study conducted in this article. section starts on page 380 and ends on page
by the author(s)? 382. No specific heading for the literature
Yes, it is an review is mentioned.
empirical
research article.
Ganuza & Yes, this article is It's not explicitly The literature review section is not explicitly
Hedman reporting on a stated whether labeled as "Literature Review." The relevant
(2019) study conducted there's a distinct section starts on page 111 and ends on page
by the authors. literature review 112. No specific heading for the literature
section. review is mentioned.
Hiver & Yes, this article Yes, there is a The literature review section is not explicitly
Dörnyei reports on a literature review labeled as "Literature Review." However,
(2017) study conducted in this article. there is a section that reviews relevant
by the authors. literature. The section starts on page 407
and ends on page 408.
Hyland & Yes, this article is Yes, a literature The literature review section is not explicitly
Jiang (2019) reporting on a review can be labeled as "Literature Review." However,
study conducted identified in this there is a section that reviews relevant
by the author. article but no literature. The section starts on page 66 and
explicity ends on page 68.
Wei (2018) Yes, this article Yes, you can The literature review section is not explicitly
reports on a identify a labeled as "Literature Review." However,
study conducted literature review there is a section that reviews relevant
by the author. in this article. literature. The section starts on page 13 and