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HOW TO WRITE
LITERATURE REVIEW
6.53

Dr. Richard B. Maestrado

UoH- Faculty College of Nursing

OUTLINE:
❑Overview of the Literature
Review
❑Purpose
❑Writing the literature review
1. Selecting your topic
2. Setting the topic in the context
3. Looking at information sources
4. Using information sources
5. Getting the information
6. Organizing information
7. Positioning the literature review
8. Writing the literature review

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OVERVIEW LITERATURE REVIEW

❑ The literature review is very important
because it helps you to situate within
the body of research literature in your
field.
❑ So, the literature review is not just a
summary of the articles, but it is a
critical analysis of relevant literature in
your field where you look at the
current knowledge, the theories, the
methodologies, and methods and also,
it’s the opportunity to identify any gaps
in literature where your research will
be contributing towards the filling the
gaps.

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Is to convey to the reader what

PURPOSE
The literature review must be
defined by a guiding concept:
knowledge and ideas have
been established on a topic,
and what their strengths and
weaknesses are.

❑ Your research objective

❑ the problem or issue you are
discussing
❑ your argumentative thesis

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MAIN PURPOSE:

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It is assumed that
it should give a by mentioning a
theoretical base for
The review should previous work in
the research and help
enumerate, describe, the field of study,
summarize, objectively you (the author)
evaluate and clarify this determine the nature the author has
previous research. of your research read, evaluated,
and assimilated
that work into the
work at hand.

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1. SELECTING YOUR TOPIC

When thinking about a suitable topic, it is important
to consider the implications of your choice:
❑ Can information be gathered
locally?
❑ Are you in a position to travel to
use various sources?
❑ What are your interests, and will
these interests be maintained for
the duration of the research?
❑ Is it sufficiently interesting to
keep you, the author, working for
the next 2 – 3 – 4 years?
❑ Is the scope wide enough to be able
to ascertain a particular niche?
❑ Is the scope so broad that it will
lose direction?

❑ Who will be interested in this ❑ Does it involve technology that is

research? readily available?

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❑ In the early stages, it is probably wise to give all topics

under consideration a title and write them down.

a) Include a brief description of the content of each idea and a

plan of how each topic could be developed.

b) Writing sometimes helps define ideas and helps you to plot a

course of action. Although the topic may change or aspects of
it may change, it is still useful to record thoughts.

c) It is also interesting to look back once the research has been

completed and see how the topic evolved!

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2. SETTING THE TOPIC IN THE CONTEXT

For your topic to grow there must also be a context
and this is influenced by existing knowledge.
❑ What is the scope of the topic?
"This means that the literature review provides a
❑ What is the purpose of the general understanding which gives meaning to the
research?
discussion of findings, conclusions, and
❑ Who is the intended audience?
recommendations. This allows the author to
❑ What is the time period?
demonstrate how his research is linked to prior
❑ What is the geographical coverage?
efforts and how it extends our understanding of this

❑ What are the relevant/related general line of scholarly inquiry." (Muskal n.d.).
disciplines?

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3. LOOKING AT INFORMATION SOURCES

You will need to consult a wide range of

information sources. Informal sources include
contact with peers, colleagues, other
researchers, your liaison librarian, and your
supervisor. Just as important as the network of
informal contacts are the formal sources,
including:

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Books Search Primo (library catalog) to find which books

are held in the Library.
Journals – Search the BU Journal List to find which journals are
scholarly/popular available through the Library. To search for journal
articles on a specific topic use a Library database.
Research papers These can be found in many areas including library
catalog, databases, and on the university
and government web sites.
Theses/ Search Primo (library catalog) using the keywords
Dissertations "Bloomsburg" and "theses." Or search Dissertation
Express for listings of theses and dissertations
throughout the world.
Conference Find by searching Primo (library
proceedings catalog), databases, as well as professional
association websites.

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Web sites (URLs) When using a search engine like Google, try limiting your
search by domain, e.g., org, gov, or edu, by typing
in site:gov (or other domain) as one of your search terms.
Government The best starting point for government documents are
documents government websites. Refer to the Government
Information page for a list of U.S. and International
government web sites.
Bibliographies Bibliographies and references found in information sources
often prove useful when looking for further information.

Encyclopedias/ You'll find many encyclopedias and dictionaries in the

Dictionaries Reference Collection (2nd floor). Search Primo (library
catalog) and/or browse the shelves. The Library also
offers many online sources of reference works,
including Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, etc.
Newspapers Refer to the Library’s offerings of Newspaper Databases.

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4. USING INFORMATION SOURCES

❑ Using information sources in a systematic and structured manner will save
you a great deal of time and frustration. Developing a search strategy is
vital, as it provides you with an overall structure for your search and provides
a record of your search history. This is an extremely useful record to have as
you find yourself needing to refine or change the focus of your searching as
your research develops. It can also improve the relevancy of results obtained
as you have thought about keywords and synonyms and how these relate to
each other.

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STEP 1: Defining the information needed and

stating it as a question
❑ Start by expressing your information need in words. This will assist you in
thinking about what you need and determining terms to be used later. You
may need to consult dictionaries or encyclopedia to clarify the topic.cc

STEP 2: Breaking the needs into its component

parts.
❑ From the title and abstract of your topic it is possible to identify various
concepts and keywords. A concept map/mind map is a useful way to plot
ideas.

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STEP 3: Identifying synonyms and prioritizing identifying

synonyms and prioritizing keywords.
❑ At this stage you need to identify synonyms for the keywords and
concepts you have previously developed. you should choose words that
uniquely describe the topic, and you should also list words and concepts
you do not want to be included.

STEP 4: Searching Specific Sources

❑ Selection of an information source that best matches your information
need is important. It will not matter how carefully you have thought out
your keywords etc if you are not using an appropriate source

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STEP 5: Evaluating the information

❑As sources are accessed and retrieved, look at each

work closely. Read the abstract, introduction, and
conclusion. Before assessing the relevance of the item
to your topic, it is vital that the scope, integrity, and
standing of the source is ascertained. As you retrieve
sources:

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•Assess the standing of the author - is he/she an academic? A journalist? Another student?
A researcher?
•Look at the date of publication - is the topic representative of thinking at that time?
•Ascertain the intended audience - was the material written for a general audience? Other
researchers? Particular groups with particular views?
•Notice the writing style - is it conversational? Academic? Provocative? Sensational?
Descriptive?
•Look at the presentation - does the author use tables, graphs, diagrams, and illustrations
appropriately? Are the descriptive details sufficient?
•Refer to the bibliography and references - has the author referred to the work of
others? Have all ideas been acknowledged and cited? Are there any citations listed that
would further your work?
•Look at the type of publication and its' purpose - is it a scholarly journal? A popular journal?
A refereed publication? A book? Conference proceedings?
•Identify the seminal works

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As sources are selected and used, critically analyze the content. As

you use resources:
❑ Determine the facts/arguments/points of view
❑ Look at any new findings - is there clear evidence to support each finding?
❑ Ascertain the reliability and accuracy of the document - are all assumptions
valid? Are there any flaws in the methodology? Is the research based on
established facts?
❑ Determine the significance of the work - is it a landmark article? Does it merely
discuss what is already known? What does it contribute to accepted theory?
❑ Ascertain the limitations, flaws, weaknesses, strengths and underlying
assumptions of the analysis in relation to the related literature and current
thought.
❑ Contextualize the work within the discipline - where does it fit? Which thoughts
and ideas relate/contradict/support current thought?
❑ Study the methodology - is it appropriate to the type of study?

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STEP 6: Evaluating the search process

At all stages of the process, it is vital that the search process is
evaluated. Sometimes the inability to find relevant information can be
attributed to a poorly constructed search strategy, inappropriate search
terms, poor retrieval methods, or inappropriate sources. This can also apply
to instances where too much material is retrieved. Too few, too many, or
inappropriate search results could mean:

•You need to re-evaluate the search terms

•You need to narrow/ broaden the scope of your search(es)
•You need to try different types of sources
•You need to explore other disciplines

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5. GETTING THE INFORMATION

"As a researcher, there is nothing quite so frustrating as having identified a publication of
interest only to discover that a major challenge now lies ahead: how to get your hands on a
copy.” (Kaser, 1995, p.vii )

Although an increasing number of databases now offer full text, a large number of sources only
include the citation (that is, the author and title of the article, periodical title, volume, issue, and
pages ). Some citations also include an abstract or short synopsis of the work. Until the
documents themselves are as extensively accessible and readily available as the references to
them, researchers will need to be aware of options for obtaining more than references.
In the event that the Library cannot provide you with access to specific titles/sources you have
discovered, you have a few options:

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6. ORGANIZING INFORMATION
❑ Early in your research, select a strategy for managing your information. It is
vital that full references be recorded accurately for later use. Everyone has
experienced the frustration associated with not being able to locate
a reference when it is needed.

❑ Most researchers use an electronic system to organize their references and

PDFs and create bibliographies.

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7. POSITIONING THE LITERATURE

Aim to:

❑ Understand and clarify the relationships between your research

and the discipline/s
❑ Place and justify your research within the discipline/s
❑ Understand the existing literature and how it relates
/supports/contradicts your topic

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8. WRITING THE LITERATURE REVIEW

❑ “Writing this section [the literature review] well is a sign
of professional maturity; it indicates one’s grasp of the
field, one’s methodological sophistication in critiquing
others’ research, and the breadth and depth of one’s
reading.” (Krathwohl 1988 p.4)

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