Title: Mastering the Art of Literature Review with Atlas Ti

Embarking on a literature review is like stepping into a labyrinth of scholarly discourse, where
navigating through a maze of texts and ideas can be both daunting and exhilarating. Amidst this
academic journey, Atlas Ti emerges as a guiding beacon, offering researchers a robust tool to tame
the complexities of literature review.

Crafting a literature review demands more than mere summarization; it necessitates critical analysis,
synthesis of diverse perspectives, and identification of gaps in existing research. However, the
arduous task of sifting through countless articles, journals, and books can often leave researchers
overwhelmed and lost in the sea of information.

This is where Atlas Ti proves its mettle. By providing a systematic approach to qualitative data
analysis, Atlas Ti empowers researchers to organize, annotate, and extract meaningful insights from a
plethora of sources. Its intuitive interface allows for efficient coding and categorization of data,
facilitating the identification of recurrent themes and patterns across literature.

Yet, mastering Atlas Ti requires more than just technical proficiency. It demands a nuanced
understanding of research methodologies, a keen eye for detail, and a discerning mind to discern
between relevant and irrelevant information. Moreover, employing Atlas Ti effectively entails a
strategic approach, wherein researchers must tailor their analytical framework to the specific
objectives of their literature review.

For those grappling with the intricacies of literature review, ⇒ StudyHub.vip ⇔ emerges as a
beacon of support. With a team of seasoned experts well-versed in the nuances of research
methodology and data analysis, ⇒ StudyHub.vip ⇔ offers tailored assistance to streamline the
literature review process. From formulating research questions to synthesizing findings, their services
are designed to alleviate the burden of literature review, allowing researchers to focus on the crux of
their inquiry.

In conclusion, while embarking on a literature review may seem like a Herculean task, with the right
tools and support, it can be transformed into a rewarding intellectual pursuit. With Atlas Ti as your
compass and ⇒ StudyHub.vip ⇔ as your ally, navigating the labyrinth of literature becomes not
only feasible but also enriching. So, embrace the challenge, equip yourself with the right resources,
and embark on your journey towards scholarly enlightenment.
Uploading all the annotated sources into a QDAS package not only allows quick clicking from one
source to the next for easy retrieval and review, but also provides tools and features to further
organize the sources by any criteria relevant to the literature review. In ATLAS.ti, for example, the
“documents family” feature allows grouping of sources according to characteristics such as the type
of source it came from, or whether it has been reviewed. In this way many of my categories then
became the major content areas I discussed when writing my literature review. This provides an
initial idea of how much support there is in the literature for each topic to be covered in the review.
Research outputs, most commonly in the form of PDFs, are readily accessible online via Open
Access or a library’s collections. This feature allows for showing the frequency of the codes across
documents or document groups based on two indicators, either the quotation count or the word
count. For born-digital materials, creating a paper version eliminates many advantages of the
electronic versions. Especially when writing for a peer-reviewed journal, it is essential to consider
how to demonstrate research rigor in your literature review to persuade reviewers of its scholarly
value. Figure 1 provides an overview of a paperless workflow. The table can be exported as Excel
file and the diagram as images. This would no doubt be important to mention in the literature review.
QDAS tools also provide features that will run reports displaying all the quotations for each code, as
illustrated in figure 12 with the ten quotations coded “definitions of crowdfunding.” The quotations
can then be reviewed or copied and pasted right into a word-processing document as the literature
review is being written. In the fall of 2014 I took QUAL 8410, “Designing Qualitative Research,”
with Dr. Paulus and was introduced to ATLAS.ti for the first time. This article proposes a
methodical, reproducible, three-stage process that harnesses the power digital tools bring to the
research cycle, regardless of the user’s preferred platform or operating system. Such codes can be
created before the sources are reviewed in QDAS or created along the way. The latter requires that
you use a reference manager like Citavi, Evernote, Zotero, Mendeley, etc. I decided to take the
plunge and download the trial version of the Computer Aided Qualitative Data Analysis Software
(CAQDAS) Atlas.ti. Having watched several useful videos explaining the features, I thought the
best way to try it out would be to read a paper, link it in the system and record the useful quotations
that I found. Their webinar presenters are world-class experts who show how ATLAS.ti can be used
to analyze data from a wide variety of disciplines. Childress noted: “It could be said that citation
management is the foundation for scholars to begin collecting, managing, and archiving their
research findings as well as their own scholarly output.” 27 Antonijevic and Cahoy reported that a
large number of social science and humanities faculty do, in fact, manage citations with EndNote and
Zotero. Within the notes editor interface, new sources can be recorded, tagged, and linked to related
resources in the Zotero database. You can now go through and code each results individually, or you
can auto code all results with a selected code. The researcher used network links to show that the
literature review would begin by defining “crowdfunding” and that this definition would include a
discussion of its history, how it works, and which fields are using it. If you have a lot of codes, you
can work with global code filters. With source materials coded in the software, it is possible to
retrieve all the literature sections on the same topic, reread them, and begin writing. Any paper-based
sources or any digital formats that are not in optical character recognition (OCR) format may be
reformatted and added to this workflow. Semantic networks represent connecting, contrasting, or
even nested aspects of a topic and these links became clearer as my analysis continued. This sort of
inquiry typically targets a particular phenomenon, population, or even research method to examine
how different studies have looked at the same thing differently. My own research interests are
focused in transformative learning and interfaith dialogue. In addition to observations of these
dialogue sessions, I am performing interviews with participants, observing steering committee
meetings, holding focus groups with facilitators, and examining documents the group produces. I am
very grateful to my supervisor, Dr. Julie-Ann Sime from Lancaster University, and to my eTwinning
soulmate, Tiina Sarisalmi, for their invaluable support. You should consider expanding your search to
junior high school and university contexts only when there are not enough studies that match your
focus.
Such codes can be created before the sources are reviewed in QDAS or created along the way. Older
research is likely to have encountered challenges and critiques that may render their findings
outdated or refuted. Easily determine user intent in the same spot you're deciphering your overall
focus group data. I would then import the document into ATLAS.ti as a Primary Document. The
choice may, in part, depend on whether the selected CMS provides: (1) robust PDF annotation tools
and (2) a mobile app to be used during the reading phase. For the empirical literature regarding
dialogue I found that many studies discuss how participants learn about themselves and others in
dialogue, the potential for perspective transformation, and what factors impact the outcomes of
interfaith dialogue. Best, Cadu Reply Delete Replies Reply Add comment Load more. Using these
techniques, librarians can become teachers and research partners supporting the skill development of
faculty and students. After loading it into Atlas.ti as a primary document in a project that I had
created for my literature review, I selected a few paragraphs that I had identified as useful
quotations (in green) and saved them in the Quotations manager - eg, there was a reference made to
the development of strong ties even in a short duration community, so I saved this with the code
Strong ties. Focusing just on the literature review phase, we develop a conceptual framework,
illustrated with concrete tips and advice for storing and organizing, reading and annotating, and
analyzing and writing. For example, QSR NVivo supports the importation of entire citation manager
libraries, including both bibliographic metadata and the associated annotated PDFs. This tool is a text
editor that can be used to compose and therefore capture insights and ideas and even write initial
drafts of the argument while staying spatially close to the literature being reviewed. With source
materials coded in the software, it is possible to retrieve all the literature sections on the same topic,
reread them, and begin writing. The ideal scenario is that the selected CMS provides an app so that
sources can be read and annotated on a mobile device, such as Mendeley’s iPad app illustrated in
figure 5. These codes were attached to relevant sections of the source (called “quotations”) for easy
retrieval when it was time to write. At the end of the training, you will receive an official ATLAS.ti
Academy certificate. I used the comment field for each primary document to manage the citation
and abstract for the journal article within the project. One way to choose between CMS tools is to
compare how well each one performs metadata extraction. It is possible to write entire sections of the
literature review by using the memo tool, before bringing it back into word processing software to
ready it for publication. Now we are using it for many of our research activities at Consulto. Textual
reports can be saved in.docx or.pdf formats. For example a useful report is the list of all documents
with their appraisal. We also see potential in expanding the changing role of librarians as both
teachers and research partners, supporting faculty and students in their research and publishing skills.
I used the naming of my codes to keep track of my categories (ex. Semantic networks represent
connecting, contrasting, or even nested aspects of a topic and these links became clearer as my
analysis continued. For example, if you are conducting a literature review about teaching practices in
high school contexts, it is best to narrow your literature search to studies focusing on high school.
Published literature reviews in peer-reviewed journals might have 40 to 50 references. When I had
created my themes by looking across my categories and codes for the empirical literature, I ran
outputs of the specific codes that were in each theme to bring up evidence to be included in my
report. Sources within the crowdfunding folder appear in the middle pane and can be sorted by
author, title, year, journal name, etc. Mobile devices also allow the text to be enlarged for visibility
and to focus on the most meaningful segments of the source for deeper engagement. This step is
important because ATLAS.ti serves as a management tool for the important points in the literature,
which in turn helps tremendously with the review process.
My supervisor was Dr. Julie-Ann Sime (contact via the CSALT link below). Published literature
reviews in peer-reviewed journals might have 40 to 50 references. I highly recommend it for your
qualitative research. Mobile devices also allow the text to be enlarged for visibility and to focus on
the most meaningful segments of the source for deeper engagement. It examined how the
community influences the development of teachers’ competence in online collaboration and
discourse, and it considered the contribution of social aspects and online moderation. As with my
codes, I kept a dated record of my memos as well as when I added to or edited them. Marilyn Leask
from the University of Bedfordshire and Dr. Don Passey from the University of Lancaster, for their
valuable advice. The comments I made in Adobe became comments on particular codes and
sometimes linked or free memos. Especially when writing for a peer-reviewed journal, it is essential
to consider how to demonstrate research rigor in your literature review to persuade reviewers of its
scholarly value. Specifically, my dissertation is a qualitative case study working with a grassroots
dialogue organization of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim adults who, since 2001, have been
participating in interfaith dialogue every four to six weeks. The latter requires that you use a
reference manager like Citavi, Evernote, Zotero, Mendeley, etc. In a collaborative project, this step
of the process also allows any member of the team to pull down a source, create an annotated
version, and easily return the file to the cloud for others on the team to read and view annotations
and notes. When a new source is added to the library, a brief annotation about when and where the
item was located, how the item will be used in the research project, and so on can be included, which
helps ensure methodical tracking. Some of our software tools that are effective for analyzing
literature include. Discipline-specific concerns also will influence the user’s choice of CMS, so it is
advisable to consult with collaborators and others in the field when making a selection. QDAS keeps
track of how often each code has been used so that it becomes clear which topics are being
discussed most often in the literature. The notes field can support more substantial annotations and
memos, upwards of several pages in length. One of these scholars is Dr. Trena Paulus who’s expertise
with digital technologies and qualitative research is renowned. Document families can also be used
to organize sources by the major themes of literature review. This seamless integration can easily
support a collaborative workflow and allows working with files on mobile devices. Moving between
the print and digital environments, and managing and annotating journal articles, books, and other
sources in a methodical way, can prove cumbersome. The only significant difference with a literature
review treats existing literature as the research data to collect and analyze. While mid- to late-career
scholars may find the idea of going paperless daunting, this may be less true of those early in their
careers. But its customer service really is what wins them the gold star. You can now go through and
code each results individually, or you can auto code all results with a selected code. Over the course
of a year and a half I read and analyzed these articles in ATLAS.ti to develop a working literature
review, which is still a work in progress as I aim to stay up on current scholarship. Best, Cadu Reply
Delete Replies Reply Add comment Load more. Finally, in Stage 3, annotated sources can be
uploaded to a QDAS program to synthesize and begin writing the literature review. Old-fashioned
data management practices persist for a number of reasons but are becoming increasingly
cumbersome as PDFs dominate as the preferred digital format for publishing texts. 24. Yet, some
participants questioned the robustness of CMS for indexing and filing, opting instead for cloud-
based solutions—even as they voiced privacy and security concerns about using nonuniversity
servers. 28.
A literature review, then, should center the literature collection around that focus. This way the
original, clean copy of the source is retained and a second, annotated copy is stored in GoodReader. I
can recommend working with ATLAS.ti and diving into its possibilities because you'll be surprised
by what this fantastic analysis software can have you discover from your data. You can now go
through and code each results individually, or you can auto code all results with a selected code.
When I had created my themes by looking across my categories and codes for the empirical
literature, I ran outputs of the specific codes that were in each theme to bring up evidence to be
included in my report. The table can be exported as Excel file and the diagram as images. In figure
14, some initial thoughts about “criteria for success” of crowdfunding campaigns are captured in a
memo while looking at a section of one of the sources. This way you gain an overview and deeper
understanding for each article step-by-step. As I worked on my MA I was a Teaching Assistant in the
department of Religion teaching introductory religion classes and after graduating I worked as an
instructor at UGA and later at Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC). In addition, these readers often
support searching for keywords, highlighting (in a variety of colors), underlining, adding shapes and
arrows, and selecting from a variety of other annotation tools as illustrated in figure 6. You can treat
a set of research articles like other forms of qualitative data. Factors to consider include availability,
cost, online storage capacity, collaboration features, and PDF annotation support (important in Stage
2). For example, if you are conducting a literature review about teaching practices in high school
contexts, it is best to narrow your literature search to studies focusing on high school. They can then
analyze the collected studies by finding and identifying patterns or themes that occur frequently.
With a click on a cell in either the table or inside the visualization, you can retrieve and review the
original sources. Tablets can make the transition to a paperless workflow less distressing because it is
possible to curl up with the readings, use a finger or stylus to annotate much like one would with a
highlighter or pen, and otherwise physically engage with the texts in similar ways as on paper. The
GoodReader App (iOS) is one such digital reader; others include iAnnotate (iOS), Mac Preview
(Mac), or Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Windows Phone). Some of
our software tools that are effective for analyzing literature include. Then I recorded some of my
highlighting in the pdf file using the tool PDF-XChange viewer; I find this useful for future
reference, though if I could ever get use to working directly online it would be quicker. It is possible
to write entire sections of the literature review by using the memo tool, before bringing it back into
word processing software to ready it for publication. Interfaith dialogue is a little examined topic in
Adult Education and to complete my literature review I examined scholarship in a wide variety of
fields such as interfaith studies, adult education, religion, theology, communication studies, and
more. Researchers need to establish this research gap through a literature review to persuade journal
editors and reviewers of the value of their research. We can choose to view the word frequency
results in a word list format (see figure 4) or a word cloud format (see figure 5). These codes were
attached to relevant sections of the source (called “quotations”) for easy retrieval when it was time to
write. The memo function was my primary tool for managing my preliminary analysis. To create such
a report, open the Document Manager and click on the Reports button in the ribbon (ATLAS.ti
Windows). In the Mac version, you click on the Export button and select Export as Report from the
drop-down menu. Organizing and managing these digital resources for purposes of review, and with
the technical savvy to do so, are now essential skills for graduate study and life in academia. This
analysis allows the researcher to point out what the field has frequently explored or, on the other
hand, overlooked. This research gap warrants a study examining how this understudied population
reacted to the supplement. You should consider expanding your search to junior high school and
university contexts only when there are not enough studies that match your focus.
In figure 13, codes were dragged and dropped into a network view in ATLAS.ti and meaningful
links were created. You should consider expanding your search to junior high school and university
contexts only when there are not enough studies that match your focus. Interfaith dialogue is a little
examined topic in Adult Education and to complete my literature review I examined scholarship in a
wide variety of fields such as interfaith studies, adult education, religion, theology, communication
studies, and more. This way the original, clean copy of the source is retained and a second,
annotated copy is stored in GoodReader. Finally, in Stage 3, annotated sources can be uploaded to a
QDAS program to synthesize and begin writing the literature review. Unfortunately, at the moment,
QDAS programs do not have a “cite as you write” feature, so reference lists cannot be generated in
the same way they are in a CMS. This makes it necessary to use both a CMS and a QDAS program
for an ideal paperless workflow. But its customer service really is what wins them the gold star. The
table can be exported as Excel file and the diagram as images. It was the perfect solution, and we
were happy to learn that we could collaborate with researchers in any country or institution without
obtaining a special license. The notes field can support more substantial annotations and memos,
upwards of several pages in length. Librarians can apply these workflows into their own publishing
and outreach practices, adding value to the research process that goes beyond just connecting
researchers with information resources. I used the comment field for each primary document to
manage the citation and abstract for the journal article within the project. Document families can also
be used to organize sources by the major themes of literature review. One way to choose between
CMS tools is to compare how well each one performs metadata extraction. Some of our software
tools that are effective for analyzing literature include. It is possible to write entire sections of the
literature review by using the memo tool, before bringing it back into word processing software to
ready it for publication. Consider who the most prominent scholars in your field are and determine
which journals publish their research or have them as editors or reviewers. In that case, the researcher
can argue that further study can address this research gap. QDAS tools also provide features that
will run reports displaying all the quotations for each code, as illustrated in figure 12 with the ten
quotations coded “definitions of crowdfunding.” The quotations can then be reviewed or copied and
pasted right into a word-processing document as the literature review is being written. However,
after reading a paper one clearly has to take the decision as to whether or not it is sufficiently
relevant to the research as to warrant coding it, as it takes effort - I would say around an hour to read
the paper, highlight bits, save in Atlas.ti and mark-up quotations. While tools such as Docear and
F1000Workspace are proposing comprehensive platforms to support an integral part of this
workflow, neither yet includes the analytic robustness of QDAS software to systematically code and
retrieve parts of the literature that support the overall argument. Librarians and the educators they
serve see that many of today’s students are already paperless in how they interact with the published
literature. For example, if you are conducting a literature review about teaching practices in high
school contexts, it is best to narrow your literature search to studies focusing on high school. When I
had created my themes by looking across my categories and codes for the empirical literature, I ran
outputs of the specific codes that were in each theme to bring up evidence to be included in my
report. In the spring of 2015 I met with Dr. Paulus and she taught me the basics of ATLAS.ti so I
could begin my literature review with the program. In figure 10, “criteria for success” (of
crowdfunding efforts) was used across the sources sixteen times, and “existing social networks”
thirteen times. “Fields using crowdfunding” was used eight times. Examples of CMS include
EndNote, Mendeley, RefWorks, Zotero, and Papers. PDFs can be uploaded and downloaded
between the two programs. Sources that need to be read are downloaded from Dropbox into
GoodReader, organized into folders as needed, annotated, “flattened” (to retain the annotations), and
then uploaded back into Dropbox (see figure 7). Specifically, my dissertation is a qualitative case
study working with a grassroots dialogue organization of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim adults who,
since 2001, have been participating in interfaith dialogue every four to six weeks.
This way the original, clean copy of the source is retained and a second, annotated copy is stored in
GoodReader. While we have illustrated Stage 3 using ATLAS.ti, other QDAS programs such as QSR
NVivo and MAXQDA provide very similar features and functionality. We also see potential in
expanding the changing role of librarians as both teachers and research partners, supporting faculty
and students in their research and publishing skills. PDFs can be uploaded and downloaded between
the two programs. Sources that need to be read are downloaded from Dropbox into GoodReader,
organized into folders as needed, annotated, “flattened” (to retain the annotations), and then
uploaded back into Dropbox (see figure 7). My supervisor was Dr. Julie-Ann Sime (contact via the
CSALT link below). It is a space for ideas, reflection, interpretation, commentary or simply anything
relating to the review of the literature in the project. Older research is likely to have encountered
challenges and critiques that may render their findings outdated or refuted. In other words, the
beginnings of the argument might already be crystallizing. This function allows you to search for a
specific keyword or term, add synonyms, inspect the results in context an auto code. Within projects,
you can use document groups to separate studies into different categories for easier and faster
analysis. I would then import the document into ATLAS.ti as a Primary Document. This would no
doubt be important to mention in the literature review. The codes you apply to your literature
collection allow for analysis through many powerful tools in ATLAS.ti. Librarians and the educators
they serve see that many of today’s students are already paperless in how they interact with the
published literature. In this way many of my categories then became the major content areas I
discussed when writing my literature review. Students, scholars, and the librarians who support them
must adopt and refine practices to convert from paper-full to paperless literature review. Call me old-
fashioned, but my first step involved a paper printout and a highlighter pen. QDAS developers
themselves have taken up this application of their software, with QSR NVivo, for example,
partnering with Endnote and offering webinars on how to conduct literature reviews. But first
impressions are positive and I can already see the value of the tool for coding the qualitative data that
I will collect later in surveys, interview transcripts, forums (web pages saved as pdf?), images, etc.
Over the course of a year and a half I read and analyzed these articles in ATLAS.ti to develop a
working literature review, which is still a work in progress as I aim to stay up on current scholarship.
However, it is generally the case that a CMS offers only varying degrees of formatting accuracy and
is highly dependent on how precisely the metadata is entered. 53 As we have illustrated, the power of
the CMS resides in a host of other functions to support literature reviews (for example, organizing,
sharing, annotating sources), of which outputting references is but one. Good news! ATLAS.ti
Desktop supports the importing of references from reference managers. Any paper-based sources or
any digital formats that are not in optical character recognition (OCR) format may be reformatted
and added to this workflow. With a click on a cell in either the table or inside the visualization, you
can retrieve and review the original sources. Using these techniques, librarians can become teachers
and research partners supporting the skill development of faculty and students. I found that there has
been much more conceptual literature published on interfaith dialogue than empirical scholarship. The
GoodReader App (iOS) is one such digital reader; others include iAnnotate (iOS), Mac Preview
(Mac), or Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Windows Phone). Such codes
can be created before the sources are reviewed in QDAS or created along the way. Document
families can also be used to organize sources by the major themes of literature review. Librarians can
build upon their expertise and experience with collecting literature and move beyond just helping
scholars create the corpus of literature for review.